tihvaxy  of  t:he  theological  ^tmimty 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 


'd^^v- 


PRESENTED  BY 

Rufus  H.   LeFevre 


(       APR  21  1952    . 


^  OfilGAL  1^ 


The  Exalted  Lit 


By 

BISHOP  N.  CASTLE,  D.  D. 

(Bishop  Emeritus) 


THE  OTTERBEIN  PRESS 

Dayton,  Ohio 

1913 


Prei3  of  the 

United  Erethren  P  basKing  House 

W.  R.  Funk,  Agent 

Da>ton,  Ohio 


INTRODUCTION 

LIFE'S  sunset  is  nearing  and  the  day  of  work 
will  soon  end.  "What  thou  doest,  do  quickly," 
is  a  whispering  voice  that  speaks  from  out  the 
growing  stillness  of  this  evening  hour.  The  day 
of  heat,  and  dust,  and  battle,  like  the  bird  of  long 
and  wearied  flight,  is  folding  its  wings  for  quiet 
and  rest.  This  is  the  time  for  gathering  up  and 
putting  in  order  all  the  affairs  of  the  day,  thus 
closing  and  ending  what  must  forever  remain  fixed 
and  changeless.  "While  the  day  lasts"  is  the  period 
for  work,  for  "the  night  cometh  when  no  man  can 
work." 

With  a  view  to  improving  in  the  best  possible 
way  this  sunset  period,  I  enter  upon  the  pleasant 
task  of  preparing  a  small  work  on  what  I  am 
pleased  to  entitle  ''The  Exalted  Life."  In  this 
little  book  I  hope  to  crystallize  some  of  the  things 
that  have  come  to  me  through  the  years,  that 
have  been  a  help  to  me,  and  now  by  passing  them 
on  may  also  be  a  help  to  others. 

No  other  feeling  or  motive  should  characterize 
this  latest  effort  than  that  of  deepest  candor  and 
highest  sincerity.  No  false  lights  should  glimmer 
here;  no  fulsome  pretensions  mark  the  footsteps 
to  the  nearing  sea.  Here  all  is  too  realistic,  fixed, 
and  changeless  for  anything  but  the  true.  The 
gleaming  light  from  the  eternal  city  that  radiates 
this  ending  pathway,  and  the  ever  growing  nearness 
of  the  wonders  that  await  the  passing  of  the  gate- 


/34 


The  Exalted  Life 

way  of  heaven,  preclude  all  that  have  the  mere 
form  or  semblances  of  the  true. 

The  day  of  ambition  and  rivalry,  if  ever  here, 
is  now  past.  No  garish  light  must  now  shine.  The 
feet  must  now  press  the  rock  of  certainty,  and 
not  the  sedgy  quagmire  of  expediency  and  doubt. 
No  siren  song  must  charm  and  win  the  attention 
that  should  be  fixed  on  shores  that  are  set  with 
celestial  singers.  Who  can  be  lured  from  the 
scenes  of  glory  yonder  by  fhe  fading  lights  along 
these  murky  shores?  The  time  for  fiction,  for 
day-dreams,  for  even  mere  dogma,  is  now  past. 
It  is  about  time  to  say  "good-by"  to  kindred,  "good- 
night" to  all,  and  enter  that  silent  slumber  where 
no  dreams  ever  disturb  the  sleeper,  and  where  the 
wakening  comes  not  until  the  day-dawn  that  is 
eternal  is  ushered  in. 

Now,  all  this  cannot  but  have  a  silent  and  un- 
avoidable influence  upon  one  approaching  the  vale 
of  the  years,  and  who  expects  soon  to  exchange 
time  for  eternity.  No  question  of  greater  impor- 
tance can  confront  the  human  mind  than  the  kind 
of  character  and  life  demanded  here  in  order  to 
make  sure  of,  and  be  fitted  for  the  life  to  come. 
Here  no  one  should  be  at  sea  or  wrestling  with 
his  feet  in  the  air.  There  are  not  a  few  that  are 
honestly  perplexed,  whose  hearts  are  profoundly 
stirred,  and  who  are  yearning  intensely  for  some 
positive  constructive  statements  that  shall  lead  to 
certain  well-known  conclusions.  With  a  view  to 
aid  in  planting  the  feet  of  the  traveler  where  no 
yielding  sands  ever  pile  their  drifts,  and  to  help 
the  voyager  on  life's   treacherous   sea  to  find  an 


Introduction 

anchor  to  which  he  may  cling  with  perfect  safety 
in  every  storm,  is  the  humble  venture  of  the  writer. 
While  there  will  not  be  anything  new  to  the  clever 
reader,  and  nothing  critical  to  scholarly  advocates 
of  the  higher  Christian  living  in  this  unpretentious 
effort,  nevertheless,  it  is  the  hope  of  the  writer 
that  he  may  be  a  help  to  a  large  class  of  certain 
types  of  mind,  dissatisfied  with  the  conclusions  and 
experiences  of  the  past,  who  are  longing  and  anx- 
iously waiting  for  a  better  and  more  assuring  day. 

It  is  not  with  the  theology,  or  the  fixed  dogma 
of  the  schools  and  the  theologians  that  we  deal. 
The  scholarly  and  the  critical  are  of  necessity 
barred.  While  we  may  not  be  able  to  sustain 
all  that  we  say  by  the  preciseness  of  mathematical 
demonstration,  nevertheless  the  writer  hopes  to 
present  with  a  measure  of  clearness  the  things 
in  which  he  puts  his  own  trust  and  upon  which 
he  builds  his  own  religious  faith. 

It  is  with  the  things  of  to-day  and  of  the  present 
life  that  we  want  to  deal.  It  is  to  the  modern 
Christian  man  and  Christian  woman  that  we  want 
to  speak  and  make  our  appeal.  It  is  to  the  one  that 
reverently  and  conscientiously  claims  to  be  a  follow- 
er of  the  Christ,  and  that  is  seeking  to  manifest  the 
life  of  his  Lord  to  the  world ;  it  is  to  this  honest,  in- 
quiring, anxious  one  that  we  come  with  the  study 
of  the  question  of  the  life  to  be  lived  here  and 
now,  in  order  to  the  highest  usefulness  on  earth 
and  a  final  entrance  into  that  city  where  sin  and 
sorrow  never  come. 

In  order  to  the  unfolding  of  this  life,  the  trac- 
ing of  it  outward  and  upward,  we  must  note  its 


The  Exalted  Life 

genesis,  its  beginnig,  its  character,  its  scope,  and 
what  it  contains  embryonically. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  the  writer  to  avoid  the  spirit 
of  mere  dogmatism,  which  is  often  narrow,  bigoted, 
and  most  intolerant  in  its  judgments  of  others,  and 
open  up  a  sunHt  path  that  shall  be  easy  for  honest, 
anxious,  simple  feet  to  cling  to  in  the  pilgrimage 
to  the  Holy  City.  A  way,  though  high  and  nar- 
row, that  is  not  difficult  to  follow,  being  straight 
in  its  course  to  a  sun-blazoned  goal,  with  no  ob- 
scuring clouds  to  darken  it,  and  no  enemies  to 
imperil  its  travelers.  No  ravenous  beast  ever  leaves 
a  footprint,  or  beguiling  serpent  its  trail  on  this 
blood-bought,  blood-stained  way. 

We  approach  the  advocacy  of  this  way  not  so 
much  through  the  channels  of  philosophy,  logic, 
metaphysics,  and  theology,  as  through  the  medium 
of  the  written  Word,  the  illumination  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  the  intuitions  of  the  heart,  and  the  evidential 
testimony  of  Christian  experience. 

That  the  comprehensiveness  of  the  subject  and 
the  painful  limitations  of  the  writer  render  the 
undertaking  difficult  is  freely  admitted;  but  it  is 
in  this  arena  that  we  must  struggle.  The  open 
fields  lie  yonder.  Shall  we  reach  them  and  know 
their  joys?  That  we  must  take  our  stand  some- 
where and  look  in  some  direction  is  readily  ad- 
mitted. This  is  the  task  before  us.  The  field  is 
worthy  of  the  most  careful  and  laborious  survey. 
It  would  be  most  unwise  to  be  contented  with  mere 
furtive  glances  at  its  portent,  and  then  turn  away 
to  some  idle  casuistry  as  the  only  hope  of  a  pre- 
pared blissful  future.    Not  so  do  men  struggle  for 


Introduction 

earthly  goals.  They  do  not  minimize  the  difficulties 
that  beset  the  achievements  of  any  science ;  and 
yet  these  earthly  goals  end  in  the  agnostic's  hopeless 
creed,  "We  do  not  know."  With  this  creed,  border- 
land is  soon  reached,  and  all  problems  end  in  un- 
answerable questions ;  yet  the  scientist  struggles  on 
in  his  effort  to  reach  tangible  verities.  Elemental 
substances  are  handled  and  compounded;  unseen 
forces  are  measured,  controlled,  and  utilized.  The 
categories  of  time  and  space  are  wrestled  with  all 
in  hopes  of  finding  the  scope  and  powers  of  the 
physical  universe. 

Now,  shall  the  Christian,  the  child  of  grace,  a 
son  of  God,  be  less  interested,  less  vigilant,  less 
concerned,  about  the  kingdom  he  was  born  into  at 
his  second  birth — its  character,  its  inhabitants,  its 
duration — than  are  the  men  of  the  world  as  to  the 
things  of  time,  "the  world  that  passeth  away"? 
If  this  delightful  task  shall  serve  the  end  of  quick- 
ening and  deepening  interest  in  these  heavenly 
things,  and  shall  serve  to  guide  and  strengthen 
bewildered  and  weary  feet  in  their  homeward 
journey,  the  highest  ambition  of  the  writer  has 
been  reached.  Perish  every  other  ambition!  Let 
every  other  goal  be  blotted  out ! 

This  is  prepared  as  the  last  and  somewhat  ex- 
tended message  to  beloved  kindred,  to  thousands 
of  esteemed  friends  throughout  this  country,  to 
a  conference  of  which  I  am  now  the  oldest  living 
member,  and  to  a  church  whose  teaching,  influence, 
and  official  support  has  transformed  and  sustained, 
to  this  latest  hour,  the  life  and  courage  of  the 
writer. 


The  Exalted  Life 

When  these  hands  lie  cold  and  still  in  the  quiet, 
solemn  city;  when  these  lips  are  sealed  in  that 
strange,  unutterable  silence  that  reigns  unbroken, 
and  when  this  form  lies  prone  in  that  oblong  where 
all  light  and  eyes  are  excluded,  may  the  Holy 
Spirit  whisper  some  sweet  message  of  his  own 
to  the  readers  of  this  book. 

It  is  with  the  utmost  candor  and  frankness  of 
admission  that  the  writer  would  say  that  he  lays 
no  claim  to  any  special  originality  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  this  work.  It  has  grown  out  of  years  of 
reading  and  thinking,  which  have  so  united  and 
blended  in  the  thoughts  of  the  writer  as  to  now 
make  it  impossible  to  discriminate  between  what 
has  been  contributed  by  other  minds  and  what  has 
been  the  result  of  independent  thinking  and  personal 
spiritual  illumination. 


CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Introduction   3 

Chapter  I. 
The  Call  of  the  Times 11 

Chapter  IT, 
The  Necessity  and  Importance  of  Ideals 24 

Chapter  III. 
What  Do  With  Divine  Ideals 31 

Chapter  IV. 
Lessons   and   Blessings  of  Unrealized  Ideals 43 

Chapter  V. 
The  Hope  that  Stimulates  Action 55 

Chapter  VI. 
The  Glorious  Outlook  that  Hope  Gives 68 

Chapter  VII. 
Where  Hope  and  Faith  Have  Their  True  Center 81 

Chapter  VIII. 
Vision    Rightly    Focused 95 

Chapter  IX. 
The  Importance  of  Being  Securely  Anchored 109 

Chapter   X. 
Dirine  Sonship,  Its  Significance 125 

Chapter  XI. 
Regeneration  of  the  New  Humanity 138 

Chapter  XII. 
Some  of  the  Characteristics  of  Sonship 152 

Chapter  XIII. 

The  Dual  Nature,  Carnality  and  Spirituality,  as  Seen 
in    the    Believer 166 

9 


PAGE 

Chapter  XIV. 

The  Influence  of  the   Carnal  on  the   Spiritual  in  the 
Believer   181 

Chapter  XV. 
Christ  as  the  Unit  of  Life  in  the  Believer 199 

Chapter  XVI. 

Christ   as   the   Constructive   and   Expulsive    Power   in 
the   Believer 219 

Chapter  XVII. 
Significance  of  the  Cross  in  the  Life  of  the  Believer.  243 

Chapter  XVIII. 
The  Divine  Method  of  Discipleship 264 

Chapter  XIX. 
The  Costume  and  Custom  Becoming  the  New  Man...  293 

Chapter  XX. 
Sanctification  as  the  Antecedent  of  Holiness 323 


10 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  Call  of  the  Times. 

These  are  the  days  when  strong  men  and  strong 
women  are  in  demand  in  the  Christian  church. 
There  never  was  a  time  when  such  were  not  in 
demand,  but  certainly  never  more  so  than  now. 
Rock-ribbed  and  rock-built  characters  are  the  only 
ones  that  can  stand  in  these  testing  days,  these 
perilous  times.  Character  must  be  solidified  and 
enriched  by  the  "gold  tried  in  the  fire,"  and  be 
made  strong  and  enduring  by  becoming  ''living 
stones"  built  "into  a  spiritual  house"  for  the  oc- 
cupancy of  the  Heavenly  King.  The  prophet  of  old 
tells  of  this  class  in  the  words,  "They  that  trust 
in  the  Lord  shall  be  as  Mount  Zion,  which  cannot 
be  removed,  but  abideth  forever."  Here  is  eleva* 
tion  and  security. 

Daniel  Webster's  oft  repeated  remark  made  to 
a  young  man  of  the  legal  profession,  "There  is 
plenty  of  room  at  the  top,"  is  very  fitting  and 
instructive  when  applied  to  the  Christian  life. 
Christ's  mission  to  this  world  was  not  only  to  give 
life,  but  to  give  "life  more  abundantly."  This 
abounding  life  is  health.  Weakness  shows  waning 
life.  Moral  and  spiritual  weakness  register  a  sin- 
ning life.  It  is  "the  righteous  that  shall  hold  on 
its  way."  It  is  "the  wicked  that  shall  not  live  out 
half  his  days." 

It  is  the  eagle-Christian  that  soars  to  the  higher 
altitudes,    where   clouds    and   mists   never   obscure 

11 


The  Exalted  Life 

the  vision,  where  giant  mountains  push  their  shoul- 
ders through  the  raging  storm,  and  where  the  eye 
sweeps  the  field  of  space  that  is  as  boundless  as  a 
sea  without  a  shore. 

God  has  made  large  use  of  mountains  as  symbols 
and  memorials.  It  was  on  a  mountain  that  the 
first  sacrifice  was  offered ;  it  was  on  a  mountain  that 
the  greatest  victory  of  faith  was  achieved,  and 
where  the  entrancing  vision  of  the  heavenly  city 
was  had.  It  was  from  a  mountain  summit  that  the 
law  thundered  its  awful  tones  of  affirmative  and 
negative  requirements.  Mountains  have  witnessed 
prayers  that  have  controlled  the  forces  of  nature, 
teachings  that  are  revolutionizing  the  world,  and 
an  interview  that  brought  representatives  from  two 
worlds  together,  making  clear  the  question  of 
immortality  and  future  blessedness.  The  last  place 
that  Jesus'  feet  touched  and  hallowed  on  earth  was 
a  mountain  summit. 

What  glory  gathers  around  that  mountain  that  is 
called  the  "City  of  God,"  Mount  Zion,  typifying 
the  saint's  everlasting  rest,  and  the  final  home  of 
Christ's  redeemed  ones.  These  are  perilous  times, 
and  nothing  short  of  supernatural  agencies  can 
hold  against  the  wild  seas  of  iniquity  that  sweep 
the  shores  of  earthly  life.  These  agencies  are  al- 
ways available  to  a  genuine  Christian,  Christ  is 
always  on  board  the  ship  that  is  headed  in  the 
right  direction,  and  no  sea  was  ever  wild  enough 
or  wind  strong  enough  to  sink  the  ship.  He  is 
master  of  the  storm,  and  at  his  command,  seas  of 
trouble  and  winds  of  adversity,  so  threatening  and 
alarming,   at    once   become   agencies   of   good   and 

12 


The  Call  of  the  Times 

servants  of  helpfulness.  Nights  may  be  dark — 
and  they  always  will  be  until  Jesus  comes — and 
the  oarsmen  may  grow  weary  and  faint  in  the 
struggle  with  the  adverse  elements,  but  when 
the  King  Supreme  comes  the  harbor  of  safety  and 
peace  is  at  once  entered. 

The  life  that  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God  can 
never  be  wrecked.  Isaiah  tells  of  this  security 
in  the  words,  "He  shall  dwell  on  high ;  his  place  of 
defence  shall  be  the  munition  of  rocks ;  his  bread 
shall  be  given  him ;  his  waters  shall  be  sure."  What 
can  be  more  assuring  and  comforting  than  this 
promised  security  and  this  divine  supply  and  sup- 
port? Most  of  us  live  too  largely  in  the  lowlands 
of  religious  experience,  and  know  nothing,  or  but 
Httle  of  the  munition  of  rocks. 

Sin  is  always  humbling  and  debasing;  righteous- 
ness is  exalting  and  ennobling.  *'The  wicked  walk 
on  every  side,  when  vileness  is  exalted  among 
the  sons  of  men."  How  in  contrast  with,  and  con- 
firmatory of  this  are  the  words  of  Solomon,  "Right- 
eousness exalteth  a  nation ;  but  sin  is  a  reproach  to 
any  people."  This  is  the  record  of  the  ages,  and 
the  experience  of  universal  humanity  on  one  or 
the  other  or  both  of  these  lines.  Sin's  course  is 
always  downvv^ard,  as  in  the  case  of  the  swine  into 
which  the  cast  out  demons  went.  It  goes  swine- 
ward.  It  comes  from  beneath  and  carries  its  vic- 
tim to  the  place  of  its  origin.  Righteousness  is 
always  elevating,  exalting,  recovering,  resulting  in 
a  character  that  is  heavenly,  divine.  Jesus  made 
the  contrast  when  he  said,  "Ye  are  from  beneath ;  I 
am  from  above :  ye  are  of  this  world ;  I  am  not  of 

13 


The  Exalted  Life 

this  world."  Speaking  to  and  of  his  disciples,  he 
said,  "Ye  are  not  of  this  world,  even  as  I  am  not." 
As  he  was  the  divine  One,  the  One  from  above, 
so  they  were  from  above  having  a  life  kindred  to 
that  of  his.  This  is  what  set  the  world's  enmity 
against  them.  "If  ye  were  of  the  world,  the  world 
would  love  its  own ;  but  because  ye  are  not  of  the 
world,  but  I  have  chosen  you  out  of  the  world, 
therefore  the  world  hateth  you." 

Here  is  a  divine  cleavage  that  has  marked  the 
course  of  a  pure,  spiritual,  aggressive  church 
through  all  the  ages.  It  began  in  the  first  family  of 
man,  resulting  in  the  first-born  of  the  race  killing 
his  own  brother.  That  spirit  of  enmity  spread, 
widening  and  deepening  through  the  centuries,  un- 
til it  struck  the  first-born,  God's  only  begotten  Son, 
on  Calvary's  cross.  Here,  for  the  time  being,  this 
spirit  of  enmity  spent  its  awful  fury  and  hellish 
hate  in  trying  to  blot  out  and  forever  extinguish 
this  new,  divine,  heaven-begotten  race;  but  instead 
of  extinction  it  had  a  new,  a  higher  beginning  than 
at  first.  The  first  man  was  of  the  earth,  earthy: 
the  second  man  was  the  Lord  from  heaven.  The 
transformed  life  is  to  bear  likeness  to,  or  resem- 
blance of  the  second  man,  the  heavenly,  not  only  in 
moral  and  spiritual  quality,  but  also  in  the  treat- 
ment it  receives  at  the  hands  of  the  enemies  of 
that  divine  life. 

Can  it  be  otherwise  ?  Not  while  the  human  heart 
is  what  it  is,  and  not  while  Christ's  followers  bear 
marked  and  striking  resemblance  to  him.  Jesus 
plainly  taught  his  disciples  this  lesson  of  suffering 
by  saying,  "If  the  world  hate  you,  ye  know  that  it 

14 


The  Call  of  the  Times 

hated  me  before  it  hated  you."  Then  he  adds, 
''The  servant  is  not  greater  than  his  lord.  If 
they  have  persecuted  me,  they  will  also  persecute 

you But  all  these  things  will  they  do  unto  you 

for  my  name's  sake."  It  is  all  on  my  account,  be- 
cause of  my  character,  my  life,  and  your  resem- 
blance to  me  in  these  respects  that  they  treat  you 
thus. 

What  a  testimonial  to  the  integrity,  the  purity 
of  life,  the  nobility  of  character,  is  here  paid  to  the 
followers  of  Christ.  "In  my  name!"  How  signifi- 
cant! It  was  this  name  that  Peter  and  the  other 
apostles  used  so  frequently  in  their  ministry,  and 
in  their  working  of  miracles,  that  was  so  offensive 
to  the  authorities  of  their  day.  The  resemblance 
was  so  marked  between  Christ  and  his  early  fol- 
lowers, that  they  knew  with  whom  they  had  asso- 
ciated. It  was  on  the  use  of  this  name  that  the 
rulers  based  their  charge  against  the  apostles,  and 
for  which  they  tried  to  ostracize  them,  commanding 
them  henceforth  not  to  speak  to  any  man  in  this 
name,  charging  them  neither  to  speak  nor  teach  in 
the  name  of  Jesus. 

It  is  resemblance  to  this  life  and  teaching  in 
this  name  that  has  made  the  martyrs  of  the  cen- 
turies of  the  past.  The  apostles  and  early  dis- 
ciples, many  of  them,  went  to  their  end  as  mar- 
tyrs. The  first  three  hundred  years  of  Roman 
history  is  stained  with  the  blood  of  martyrs ;  but 
how  graciously  this  name  supported  these  heroes 
of  the  cross  as  they  went  to  the  bloody  block  or 
the  burning  stake.  Let  Roman  history  speak;  let 
the  martyrs   of    Scotland   testify;   let  the  fires   of 

15 


The  Exalted  Life 

Smithfield  blaze  forth  their  witnessing  flames,  and 
no  mortal  can  doubt  the  fulfillment  of  Jesus'  words 
to  his  disciples  when  he  told  them  of  the  suffering 
that  awaited  them  and  of  the  grace  that  should  sus- 
tain them. 

Now,  can  we  say  that  the  days  of  peril  are  past, 
and  that  the  church  is  not  in  need  of  such  charac- 
ters as  the  martyrs  of  early  times?  True,  such 
barbarous  days  have  largely  gone  by,  especially 
in  civilized  countries,  but  perilous  times  are  still 
with  us  and  may  well  be  affirmed  of  the  day  in 
which  we  live.  The  tactics  have  changed.  The 
chopping  block,  the  fagots,  the  wheel,  the  knout, 
and  the  dungeon,  as  instruments  of  torture  for  the 
destruction  of  Christian  faith  have  disappeared  as 
governmental  methods.  Schools  of  philosophy,  se- 
ductive creeds,  and  various  humanizing  agencies, 
more  or  less  appealing  to  human  freedom  and  pop- 
ular demand,  have  supplanted  the  barbarous  and 
heathen  methods  of  early  times.  To-day  it  is  not 
so  much  the  destruction  of  the  literal,  organized 
agencies  employed  in  the  extension  of  Christ's 
kingdom  as  it  is  the  devitalizing  of  that  spiritual 
force  in  these  agencies  that  made  them  efficient 
and  all-conquering  in  the  early  church.  There  is 
many  a  luring  Delilah  in  these  days  seeking  to 
beguile  the  church  of  her  Nazarite  power. 

The  Sanhedrin  had  no  objection  to  Peter  and 
John  preaching  and  teaching,  only  so  it  was  not  "in 
the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Nazareth."  That  name 
stood  for  what  they  could  not  brook,  and  yet  "the 
sweetest  name  on  mortal  tongue."  It  stands  for 
what  the  world  most  needs,  and  what  millions  of 

16 


The  Call  of  the  Times 

perishing  ones  are  crying  for — salvation.  Strange 
and  sad  it  is  that  such  is  the  tendency  of  the 
human  heart  that  it  seeks  its  own  misery  and  final 
destruction,  instead  of  its  highest  good  here  and 
endless  blessedness  hereafter.  It  hates  righteous- 
ness and  loves  iniquity.  It  fairly  runs  in  the  way 
of  evil,  and  its  feet  are  swift  to  shed  blood.  It 
covets  the  way  of  sin,  the  end  of  which  is  death. 
It  is  greedy  of  its  own  ruin.  It  despises  and  spurns 
the  "gift  of  God,  which  is  eternal  life."  The 
fellowship  of  demons  is  preferred  to  the  fellowship 
of  Christ,  and  the  place  of  torment  to  that  of 
Abraham's  bosom. 

This  is  the  day  for  standing  by  well  verified 
fundamentals.  A  ship  with  its  anchor  lifted  in  time 
of  wrecking  winds  is  in  awful  peril  of  destruc- 
tion. Brave,  sane  defenders  of  "the  faith  once  de- 
livered to  the  saints"  are  much  in  demand  these 
days.  While  great  movements  are  being  organ- 
ized for  the  extension  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  the 
peril  is  that  some  of  these  may  be  so  humanized 
as  to  put  them  wholly  on  the  plane  of  the  natural, 
and  that  the  supernatural  will  be  largely  eliminated. 
This  tendency  to  homogeneity  of  action  may  find  a 
graded  level  too  low  for  unity  with  the  spiritual 
agencies  and  forces  belonging  to,  and  inherent  in 
the  kingdom  of  God.  The  craving  for  the  flesh 
pots  of  Egypt  was  Israel's  peril.  There  was  a 
"mixed  multitude"  among  them  that  "fell  a  lust- 
ing," and  thus  kept  up  the  old  desires  to  a  fever 
heat.  They  wanted  to  live  on  flesh.  My!  what  a 
diet  they  craved,  among  which  were  cucumbers, 
melons,   onions,    and   garlics.     They    fell   under   a 

17 


The  Exalted  Life 

tide  of  emotion,  and  complained  that  their  "souls 
were  dried  away,"  because  there  was  nothing  be- 
fore their  eyes  but  manna.  They  cried  for  flesh. 
Was  not  manna  good  ?  It  came  down  from  heaven, 
thus  typifying  Christ,  "the  bread  of  life." 

This  mixed  multitude  was  a  source  of  weakness 
and  division  of  Israel.  So  now,  unconverted 
church  members  often  exercise  a  controlling  influ- 
ence in  church  matters  that  so  neutralizes  spiritual 
agencies  that  lukewarmness  and  death  prevail  where 
zeal  and  life  ought  to  have  the  ascendency.  In 
such  a  church  spiritual  things  are  stale,  Christ 
uninviting,  and  the  clamor  is  for  things  pleasing 
to  the  flesh — worldly  amusements,  such  as  card 
parties,  the  theater,  and  the  dance.  The  demand 
is  for  magnificent  buildings,  an  ornate  ritual,  easy 
doctrine,  and  large  personal  freedom  in  matters 
of  duty  and  service.  Such  persons  are  good  "mix- 
ers," in  their  way,  but  their  compound  will  not 
stand  the  test  applied  by  the  divine  chemist.  Every 
man's  work  is  to  be  tried  of  what  sort  it  is,  and 
every  man's  work  shall  be  made  manifest.  There 
can  be  no  intellectual  or  spiritual  jugglery  here. 
There  is  a  day  of  fire  that  will  reveal  the  character 
of  the  work  and  the  character  of  the  workman. 
Well  may  it  be  asked,  "But  who  may  abide  the  day 
of  his  coming,  and  who  shall  stand  when  he  ap- 
peareth?  For  he  is  like  a  refiner's  fire,  and  fuller's 
soap."  God's  workmen  are  to  be  "refined  as  silver 
is  refined,  and  tried  as  gold  is  tried." 

Not  any  kind  of  agencies  can  do  God's  work,  and 
not  any  and  every  kind  of  material  can  be  put  into 
his  temple  of  which  Jesus  Christ  is  the  foundation 

18 


The  Call  of  the  Times 

and  the  chief  corner  stone.  In  order  to  build 
upon  Christ  there  must  be  an  agreement  with  him  in 
motive  and  purpose,  and  affinity  of  nature.  In  this 
connection  read  II.  Corinthians  6:14-18.  Here  is 
separation,  freedom  from  any  compHcity  with  evil. 
The  law  of  separation,  is  very  marked  in  the  Bible. 
Christ  has  a  yoke  for  his  followers  by  which  they 
are  united  in  a  common  purpose,  but  he  has  none 
for  uniting  opposite  characters,  whose  natures  are 
as  adverse  as  that  of  a  believer  and  infidel,  sin  and 
holiness,  light  and  darkness,  Christ  and  Satan.  God 
makes  his  people  his  temple,  and  says  he  will 
dwell  in  them  and  walk  in  them.  Does  he  do  this 
with  the  ungodly?     In  order  to  this  fellowship,  he 

says,  "Come  out  from  among  them and  I  will 

receive  you,  and  will  be  a  Father  unto  you,  and 
ye  shall  be  my  sons  and  daughters."  Here  is  true, 
divine  fatherhood,  and  the  highest  type  of  broth- 
erhood, but  neither  is  universal. 

But  separation  here  is  not  from  contact  with  evil 
in  the  world,  but  from  conformity  to  the  evil 
and  a  participancy  in  it.  Here  Christ  becomes  the 
model  of  his  Church.  He  was  "holy,  harmless,  un- 
defiled,  and  separate  from  sinners,"  and  yet  he 
was  ever  in  contact  with  them  in  his  effort  for 
their  salvation. 

The  Church  has  been  assigned  a  great  work 
to  do,  and  this  work  never  seemed  greater  than  in 
the  modern  world,  and  in  this  present  age.  The 
current  of  human  thought  is  rapidly  changing,  as 
mighty  and  mysterious  forces  are  now  at  work 
as  never  before.  This  is  a  period  of  transition, 
when  intellectual   storms  are  raging  on  all   sides, 

19 


The  Exalted  Life 


and  there  is  need  of  keeping  in  touch  with  the  liv- 
ing forces  of  God's  spiritual  kingdom,  and  follow- 
ing carefuly  and  prayerfully  the  way  of  ascent 
marked  out  in  his  Holy  Word. 


20 


CHAPTER  11. 
The  Necessity  and  Importance  of  Ideals 

If  life's  mission  is  to  be  a  success  there  are  two 
things  that  must  be  kept  in  mind,  the  ideal  and 
the  actual,  and  then  all  the  ground  between  the 
two  must  be  covered  by  prayer,  faith,  and  vigor- 
ous effort.  To  have  a  goal  and  then  make  no  effort 
to  reach  it  would  be  characteristic  of  the  idiotic  and 
the  insane.  To  the  intelligent,  conscientious  Chris- 
tian, there  must  be  an  object  of  contemplation,  in- 
spiring, uplifting,  and  transforming,  ever  ahead  of 
him.  Some  time  ago,  I  read  of  a  man  who  always 
carried  some  Greek  play  with  him  for  reading  at 
leisure  times;  he  became  a  great  Greek  scholar — it 
could  not  have  been  otherwise. 

No  chemist  is  without  his  laboratory  and  chem- 
icals with  which  to  work.  No  astronomer  is  with- 
out his  telescope,  his  field  of  ebony  set  with  stars. 
The  sculptor  must  first  see  his  Eve  and  Greek 
slave  in  the  rough  solid  marble  before  they  shine 
in  the  gallery  of  masterpieces,  and  he  must  not  re- 
gret the  strokes  required  to  bring  them  there.  The 
great  painter  must  first  see  his  Christ  before  Pilate 
and  his  Madonna  with  her  child  before  he  can 
transfer  them  to  the  canvas.  The  ideal  palace 
or  Colosseum  must  first  rise  on  the  field  of  vision 
before  the  architect  draws  his  line,  makes  a  stroke 
with  the  hammer,  or  wields  the  saw.  So  with  the 
inventor,  the  explorer,  and  the  warrior.  Ideals  go 
before  actual  achievements. 

21 


The  Exalted  Life 

Articles  of  faith,  methods  of  education,  and  sys- 
tems of  government  are  judged  and  interpreted 
largely  by  their  ideals.  It  is  so  of  mechanic  arts, 
municipal  government,  and  home  life.  Without 
some  central,  determining  goal,  all  is  a  mere  jumble 
of  senseless  forms. 

In  the  case  of  the  individual,  this  vision  of  life 
and  its  mission  usually  comes  into  consciousness 
during,  or  even  before  the  adolescent  period.  From 
a  child  Timothy  knew  the  Holy  Scriptures  and  was 
influenced  by  them.  In  the  case  of  the  child  Jesus 
this  was  displayed  in  a  very  striking  way  when 
he  was  only  twelve  years  of  age.  The  vision  of  his 
work  and  the  Father's  will  were  so  all-controlling 
and  commanding  that  home  and  kindred  were  pow- 
erless to  divert  him  from  that  wonderful  discus- 
sion in  the  temple. 

All  great  teachers,  discoverers,  inventors,  war- 
riors, legislators,  philosophers,  and  poets  have  had 
vivid  dreams  in  early  childhood  of  their  work.  God 
is  never  slow  or  behind  hand  in  selecting  his  work- 
men. Disobedience  may  delay  the  work,  but  troubled 
seas  will  call  the  fugitive  from  his  slumber. 

In  dealing  with  the  ideal  we  are  not  dealing  with 
the  fanciful  and  the  imaginary,  especially  when  ap- 
plied to  Christian  faith  and  Christian  living.  The 
original  of  ideal  is  idea,  which  represents  a  real 
object  in  the  mind  to  which  the  ideal  relates.  Hence, 
it  is  something  that  is,  or  should  be  possible  of 
achievement  or  realization.  This  makes  ideals  mas- 
terful and  controlling,  especially  when  dealing  with 
divine  verities.     As  we  rise  on  this  field  of  vision 

22 


The  Necessity  and  Importance  of  Ideals 

human  standards  largely  vanish,  and  we  come  into 
the  realm  of  the  "unsearchable." 

Christianity  having  its  origin  in,  and  its  unfolding 
by  a  divine  nature  is  of  necessity  inscrutable  to  the 
purely  human  faculties.  The  unseen  things  of  God 
cannot  be  understood  by  the  Adamic  nature.  "The 
natural  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  spirit 
of  God :  for  they  are  foolishness  unto  him :  neither 
can  he  know  them,  because  they  are  spiritually  dis- 
cerned." 

It  is  for  this  reason  that  God  began  the  process 
of  redemption  with  the  rudest  and  most  material- 
istic representations.  These  gradually  vanished, 
were  supplanted,  as  the  Church  grew  in  knowledge 
and  spiritual  apprehension,  until  literal  altars,  con- 
secrated places,  and  costly  temples  were  regarded 
as  no  longer  essentials  to  acceptable  worship. 

This  change  comes  from  the  new  life,  the  new 
birth,  that  puts  its  subject  in  commerce  with  the 
life  of  Christ  himself,  thereby  making  him  a  par- 
taker of  the  divine  nature;  thus  changing  the  nat- 
ural to  the  spiritual,  and  making  such  worship  ac- 
ceptable wherever  and  whenever  offered.  This 
Jesus  made  very  plain  to  the  Samaritan  woman  in 
his  conversation  at  Jacob's  well  when  he  said, 
"Woman,  believe  me,  the  hour  cometh,  when  ye 
shall  neither  in  this  mountain,  nor  yet  in  Jerusa- 
lem, worship  the  Father God  is  a  spirit;  and 

they  that  worship  him  must  worship  him  in  spirit 
and  in  truth." 

Here  the  ideal  is  transferred  from  the  external 
to  the  internal,  the  real,  thus  making  the  essential 
elements  of  the  Christian  life  to  be  spiritual.     It 

23 


The  Exalted  Life 

is  not  now  Jewish  blood,  or  the  blood  of  animals 
offered  on  Jewish  altars,  but  the  blood  of  Christ 
offered  on  Calvary's  cross  applied  by  faith,  that 
makes  a  Christian. 

This  must  be  regarded  as  a  very  high  and  exalted 
life,  God's  ideal  life  for  his  ancient  people.  Israel 
is  described  as  being  no  less  than  "the  days  of 
heaven  upon  earth."  (Deuteronomy  11:21.)  If 
the  literal  life  of  his  people  in  Canaan,  when  under 
the  law,  was  to  be  of  such  an  exalted  type,  what 
may  we  judge  the  character  of  the  life  required 
under  grace  to  be?  Israel's  life  was  ^national, 
natural,  earthly,  and  yet  was  to  be  as  the  days  of 
heaven,  conditioned  on  diligently  keeping  the  com- 
mandments. How  much  more  wonderful  and  real- 
istic the  Christian  life  ought  to  be  than  that  of  an- 
cient Israel,  now  that  Christ  has  come  and  perfected 
the  life  of  his  people  by  himself  becoming  their  life, 
making  them  partakers  of  his  divine  nature. 

Here  we  have  the  supernatural.  A  life  risen 
with  Christ,  seated  with  him  in  heavenly  places,  hid- 
den with  him  in  God,  and  finally  coming  with  him 
in  glory.     (Colossians  3:  1-4;  Ephesians  2:6.) 

But  what  is  life?  Who  can  tell?  All  life  is  a 
hidden,  fathomless  mystery.  It  is  that  strange 
something  that  glows  on  the  cheek,  sparkles  in  the 
eye,  thrills  in  the  nerves,  throbs  in  the  heart,  beats 
in  the  pulse,  flows  in  the  blood.  In  a  higher  sense 
it  kindles  in  the  brain,  reigns  in  the  affections,  and 
abounds  in  the  spirit.  x\s  a  force  it  shimmers  in 
the  sunbeam,  sparkles  in  the  dew-drop,  moans  in 
the  winds,  thunders  in  the  storm,  and  trembles  in 
the  earthquake.     It  is  manifested  all  about  us  in 

24 


The  Necessity  and  Importance  of  Ideals 

the  vegetable  and  animal  kingdoms.  It  is  seen  in 
the  growing  grass,  the  budding  trees,  and  the  wav- 
ing grain;  but  all  in  defiance  of  our  sense,  all 
science,  all  comprehension,  to  determine  what  it 
is.  God  only  knows  what  life  is.  Like  the  divine 
life  it  is  hidden.  No  microscope,  however  power- 
ful, nor  science,  however  broad  and  deep  its  re- 
search, can  find  it. 

All  this  is  true  of  what  we  call  natural  life. 
How  much  more  wonderful  and  mysterious  is  spir- 
itual life,  the  divine  life — "God  manifested  in  the 
flesh."  This  may  well  be  called  the  exalted  life ;  the 
life  that  this  book  is  seeking  to  unfold,  mysterious 
as  it  is,  and  apply  to  the  inner  and  the  outer  life 
of  Christ's  followers. 

In  order  to  do  this  in  the  most  practical  and 
efficient  way,  we  have  had  to  study  the  ideal  of  this 
life,  separate  and  apart  from  the  reality,  the  ex- 
perimental. This  is  important  as  a  foundation 
upon  which  to  build  the  real.  Without  an  ideal 
from  which  to  start,  and  as  a  goal  toward  which 
to  go,  we  are  as  helpless  as  a  sailor  on  the  ocean 
without  a  compass  or  chart.  We  have  nothing  to 
go  by,  and  hence  cannot  tell  where  we  are  going 
or  whether  we  are  going  at  all. 

The  divine  ideal  for  man  at  the  beginning  was 
resemblance  to  himself,  in  his  likeness  and  in  his 
image.  Do  our  best  to  grasp  the  divine  meaning 
as  here  expressed,  we  must  fall  far  short  of  its 
scope ;  but  of  one  thing  we  may  be  reasonably  sure, 
and  that  is,  that  the  divine  will  for  the  moral  condi- 
tion of  the  race  was  perfect  purity;  for  only  in 
this  respect  could  man  resemble  his  Creator.     'Tn 

25 


The  Exalted  Life 

our  image,  after  our  likeness,"  was  the  divine  sug- 
gestion before  man  was  created.  "In  the  image 
of  God  created  he  him,"  is  the  record  after  man  was 
created.  Image  here  means  likeness,  resemblance, 
representation,  and  is  very  striking,  as  it  represents 
the  nature,  as  children  their  parents.  It  is  making 
the  otherwise  invisible  visible.  This  resemblance 
was  lost  when  man  fell. 

Now,  if  this  moral  state  was  God's  ideal  for  man 
before  the  fall,  can  he  require  less  after  the  fall, 
in  his  restoration?  If  less,  would  it  be  a  restora- 
tion? If  sin  was  man's  ruin,  can  he  be  restored 
without  deliverance  from  that  which  ruined  him?  If 
God  could  not  tolerate  sin  in  Eden,  can  he  tolerate 
sin  out  of  Eden?  That  the  divine  plan  was  the 
early  recovery  of  man  from  this  ruin  is  seen  in  the 
provisions  made  to  this  end,  and  in  the  lives  of  dis- 
tinguished characters  that  followed  this  early  wreck- 
age. It  is  written  of  Enoch  that  he  pleased  God, 
and  that  he  walked  with  him  three  hundred  years, 
and  then  was  translated  to  the  heavenly  city.  If 
these  three  things  occurred  in  his  life,  as  the  record 
says,  then  he  must  have  lived  a  life  of  freedom 
from  sin.  To  walk  with  God  means  a  life  of  purity. 
Noah  was  perfect  in  his  generation,  and  Abraham 
was  commanded  to  walk  before  God  as  a  perfect 
man.  Now,  if  these  ancient  worthies,  under  a  dis- 
pensation so  imperfect  in  its  agencies  of  recovery 
from  sin,  lived  in  such  harmony  and  fellowship 
with  God,  what  would  be  a  reasonable  expecta- 
tion in  this  day  of  the  Son  of  man  ?  This  is  by  far 
the  brighter  and  better  day,  and  would  naturally 
require  a  life  corresponding  with  the  day. 

26 


The  Necessity  and  Importance  of  Ideals 

Now,  is  there  anything  h'ke  this  in  the  work  of 
the  world's  redemption?  Did  not  God  foresee  in 
Christ  what  he  would  and  could  do  with  and  for 
fallen  humanity?  This  is  verified  in  Paul's  word, 
"For  whom  he  did  foreknow,  he  also  did  predesti- 
nate to  be  conformed  to  the  image  of  his  Son.'* 
Again,  "God  hath  from  the  beginning  chosen  you 
to  salvation,  through  sanctification  of  the  Spirit 
and  belief  of  the  truth."  Still  more  striking  are 
the  words,  "Who  hath  called  us  with  an  holy  call- 
ing, not  according  to  our  works,  but  ac- 
cording to  his  own  purpose  and  grace  which 
was  given  us  in  Christ  Jesus  before  the 
world  began."  "According  as  he  hath  chosen 
us  in  him,  before  the  foundation  of  the  world,  that 
we  should  be  holy  and  without  blame  before  him 
in  love.  Elect  according  to  the  foreknowledge  of 
God  the  Father,  through  sanctification  of  the  Spirit, 
unto  obedience  and  the  sprinkling  of  the  blood  of 
Jesus  Christ." 

In  these  Scriptures  we  have  the  divine  ideal  for 
man  before  the  work  of  redemption  actually  began ; 
but  in  the  fullness  of  time  that  ideal  was  verified 
for  us  in  Jesus  Christ,  who  now,  by  his  life  and 
teaching,  becomes  the  true  and  real  ideal  for  his 
followers.  Here  God's  ideal  for  man  becomes 
actual  in  the  living  character.  Think  of  this  ideal 
of  whom  it  is  written,  "Who  did  no  sin,  neither 
was  any  guile  found  in  his  mouth."  "He  was  holy, 
harmless,   undefiled,    separate   from   sinners." 

n  true,  as  afiirmed  by  one  of  the  maxims  of  all 
history  and  reliable  philosophy,  that  no  worshiper 
ever   rises   higher  in   a  moral  and   spiritual   sense 

27 


The  Exalted  Life 

than  the  god  whom  he  serves,  then  what  a  boundless 
sweep  above  all  heathen,  idolatrous  worship,  is  here 
set     as     the     goal     for     the     Christian.  Tell 

me,  anxious,  inquiring  soul,  where  this  ideal 
will  lead  to,  and  where  and  when  the  final 
goal  will  be  reached?  There  are  some  things 
we  may  be  sure  of  here  and  now,  and  these  should 
most  concern  us,  among  which  we  note  that  Christ, 
in  his  work  of  redemption,  has  removed  all  the 
barriers  to  man's  recovery  from  sin's  ruin  by  him- 
self paying  the  penalty  of  the  law.  In  his  assump- 
tion of  human  nature  he  bridged  the  chasm  between 
God  and  man;  as  the  head  and  source  of  the  life 
of  the  Church,  he  becomes  its  guide  and  assured 
perpetuity.  His  bright  and  shining  life  makes  the 
pathway  of  the  just  as  the  glow  of  the  morning, 
and  as  light  as  the  cloudless  day.  He  has  anni- 
hilated the  distance  between  earth  and  heaven,  and 
brought  the  kingdom  of  God  down  among  men. 
There  are  no  dark  and  shadowy  places  on  the 
road  to  the  heavenly  city,  for  he  is  the  light. 
He  is  the  first  and  the  last :  "He  is  all  and  in  all." 
He  was  before  all  things,  and  by  him  all  things 
consist."  He  himself  said,  "Before  Abraham  was, 
I  am." 

He  is  not  only  our  elder  brother,  but  he  is 
crowned  Lord  and  king.  We  do  not  live  in  a 
lawless  world,  where  anarchy  reigns,  nor  in  a 
tenantless  house,  with  no  one  to  welcome  and 
care  for  us.  Out  of  every  storm  and  solitude  we 
may  hear  his  voice  from  out  the  darkness  saying, 
as  to  the  disciples  of  old,  "It  is  I,  be  not  afraid." 
"He  is  the  head  of  the  body,  the  Church."     He  is 

28 


The  Necessity  and  Importance  of  Ideals 

not  only  Lord  of  the  material  creation,  but  head 
of  the  spiritual  creation.  This  makes  him  supreme 
in  its  life  and  in  its  power. 

We  do  not  think  of  Christ  and  of  this  life  as 
simply  and  only  ideal,  and  stop  there.  Many  honest 
and  candid  Christians  think  of  Christ  and  his  teach- 
ings as  simply  illusory,  and  never  to  become  actual 
and  real  in  the  life?  This  cannot  be  true  if  the 
Bible  is  true  and  if  Christ  is  real.  This  is  strik- 
ingly illustrated  in  the  metaphor  of  the  vine  and 
its  branches.  Christ  said,  *T  am  the  vine,  ye  are 
the  branches."  Is  the  vine  real  as  found  in  the 
vineyard?  If  so,  are  not  the  branches  just  as  real? 
Is  not  the  life  that  circulates  through  all  a  common 
life?  Can  any  distinction  be  made,  as  to  the  na- 
ture of  the  life,  between  the  vine  and  the  branches? 
The  same  life  that  clings  in  the  tendrils,  blushes 
in  the  clusters,  and  sparkles  in  the  juice,  is  the 
same  that  is  in  the  vine  itself.  This  life  did  not 
originate  in  the  branches,  and  is  not  theirs,  origin- 
ally, though  it  be  in  them.  This  life  is  a  unit. 
There  is  only  one  life  with  all  this  diversity — one 
vine,  many  branches ;  one  body,  yet  many  members. 

Christ  is  not  only  the  ideal  of  the  Christian  life, 
but  he  is  the  beginning  to  the  Church,  the  real  life 
of  the  Church,  and  himself  the  nature  of  that  life. 
This  is  clearly  seen  in  the  metaphor  used.  The  root  is 
the  beginning  of  the  vine,  out  of  which  the  laby- 
rinth of  branches  grow;  so  of  all  the  flowers 
that  bloom  in  the  meadow,  and  the  trees  that 
enrich  the  orchard  with  their  fruitage.  The  nature 
of  the  fruit  and  of  the  flowers  follow  the  nature 
of  the  root.     So  it  is  the  life  of   Christ  flowing 

29 


The  Exalted  Life 

into  our  lives  that  makes  us  living  members  of  his 
spiritual  body.  This  ceasing,  we  lose  our  fellow- 
ship with  him  and  at  once  wither  and  die.  The 
degrees  of  fruitfulness  depend  on  the  fullness  and 
constancy  of  this  fellowship.  This  seen  in  the 
words,  "fruit,"  "more  fruit,"  "much  fruit."  The 
degrees  of  fruit-bearing  depend  on  the  health  and 
growth  of  the  branches.  No  branch  can  bear  fruit  of 
itself,  severed  from  the  vine.  "He  abideth  in  mc, 
and  I  in  him,  the  same  bringeth  forth  much  fruit: 
for  without  me  ye  can  do  nothing." 

There  comes  in  this  connection  one  of  the  sad- 
dest and  most  important  lessons  that  the  followers 
of  Christ  are  called  upon  to  study;  namely,  the 
helplessness  of  Christ  without  the  fullest  and  heart- 
iest co-operation  of  his  Church  with  him  in  the 
work  of  the  world's  redemption.  If  apart  from 
him  we  can  do  nothing,  what  can  he  do  with  no 
agencies  or  body  through  which  to  work?  Of  what 
use  is  a  vine,  however  good,  without  branches  to 
bear  fruit?  What  can  a  general  do  without  sol- 
diers, or  soldiers  that  do  not  obey  orders?  He  is 
utterly  helpless.  So  Christ,  who  is  the  "captain  of 
our  salvation,"  without  soldiers  that  will  stand  with 
him  in  the  fight  of  faith,  is  as  helpless  as  the  might- 
iest general  without  an  army. 

How  sad  the  thought  of  making  Christ  helpless? 
His  cry  from  Calvary  and  from  heaven  is  for 
helpers.  What  a  leader  he  is,  and  what  a  glor- 
ious warfare  he  is  waging!  Should  he  meet  with 
defeat  in  the  fight  because  his  soldiers  will  not 
obey  his  commands? 


30 


CHAPTER  III. 
What  do  with  Divine  Ideals. 

As  previously  indicated,  ideals  must  be  for  a 
purpose,  and  that  purpose  should  be  practicable. 
For  God  to  deal  otherwise  with  his  children  would 
be  to  tantalize  them.  When  he  requires  a  certain 
character  and  commands  a  certain  method  of  living 
he  is  not  dealing  in  mockery. 

When  God  said  to  Jerusalem  of  old,  "Awake, 
awake,  put  on  thy  strength,  O  Zion;  put  on  thy 
beautiful  garments,  O  Jerusalem,  the  holy  city: 
from  henceforth  there  shall  no  more  come  into  thee 
the  uncircumcised  and  the  unclean,"  he  command- 
ed only  the  possible.  He  meant  there  must  be  a 
changed  condition.  She  must  put  on  a  vesture 
becoming  her  character  and  her  work.  Slumbering, 
weakness,  with  garments  dust-covered,  must  no 
longer  characterize  her  life.  This  condition  of 
ease  and  consorting  with  evil  must  end.  They 
were  to  *'go  from  thence,  and  touch  no  unclean 
thing."  They  that  bear  the  vessels  of  the  Lord 
were  to  be  clean. 

Priests  under  the  law  had  to  be  a  peculiar  class 
of  people.  The  old  apparel  had  to  be  put  away, 
their  bodies  undergo  ablution  for  physical  cleans- 
ing, and  then  adorned  with  robes  befitting  their 
office  and  work. 

The  same  is  true,  only  In  a  higher  sense,  under 
grace.    Paul  said  to  Timothy,  "Keep  thyself  pure." 

31 


The  Exalted  Life 

Here  the  purity  is  not  ceremonial,  as  under  the 
law,  but  moral  and  spiritual.  It  is  not  the  outer 
garments,  but  the  inner  self,  the  hidden  man  of  the 
unrenewed  heart  that  is  to  be  put  off.  Paul  de- 
scribes the  change  as  being  the  putting  off  "the  old 
man,  which  is  corrupt  according  to  the  deceitful 
lusts;  and  putting  on  the  new  man  which,  after 
God,  is  created  in  righteousness  and  holiness." 
Again  Paul  says,  "Lie  not  one  to  another,"  and 
assigns  as  the  reason,  "seeing  that  ye  have  put  off 
the  old  man  with  his  deeds ;  and  have  put  on  the 
new  man,  which  is  renewed  in  knowledge  after  the 
image  of  him  that  created  him,"  (Colossians  3:9, 
10;  Ephesians  4:22-24.) 

Now  can  we  affirm  the  impossible  here,  and  thus 
charge  God,  our  Father,  and  Jesus  Christ,  our 
elder  brother,  with  gross  injustice?  No  considerate 
man  would  require  a  horse  to  draw  a  load  that 
he  knew  he  could  not  pull.  No  kind-hearted  father 
would  commit  a  task  to  a  child  that  he  knew  he 
could  not  perform.  Civil  authorities  are  giving 
consideration  to  abuses  of  this  kind.  What  shall 
we  say  of  the  God  of  infinite  wisdom  and  of  bound- 
less love  on  this  line?  Many  years  ago,  I  heard 
a  minister  of  the  gospel  say  that  he  knew  it  was 
his  duty  to  preach,  but  that  he  could  not  do  it.  If 
absolutely  impossible  then  it  was  not  duty.  All 
God's  calls  are  through  open  doors,  or  doors  pos-  . 
sible  of  opening.  Duty  never  demands  the  impos-  ' 
sible,  plus  God. 

It  must  be  freely  admitted  that  the  ideals,  or 
standards,  set  for  human  conduct  and  achievement 
in  the  Scriptures  are  exceedingly  high  and  in  some 

32 


What  do  with  Divine  Ideals 

features  and  in  some  aspects  unattainable  in  this 
life;  but  the  goal  is  set  for  our  running,  and  until 
life  is  lived  and  its  battles  fought,  no  one  can 
tell  how  lofty  his  achievements  may  be  under  a 
divinely  inspired  calling  and  purpose,  he  even 
keeping  alive  and  in  use  the  promise,  *'My  grace 
is  sufficient." 

God  has  set  nothing  less  than  perfect  manhood  in 
Christ  Jesus,  as  the  goal  of  faith  and  hope  to  the 
believer.  With  anything  less  than  this  as  the  aim, 
there  would  be  contentment  with  the  imperfect,  the 
immature,  the  unrealized.  It  is  not  so  in  earthly 
things.  The  child  wants  to  be  a  man,  the  student 
a  scholar,  the  laborer  rewarded.  Perpetual  child- 
hood in  the  home  would  be  a  great  calamity.  So 
it  is  in  grace.  This  St.  Paul  laments  when  writing 
to  the  Plebrews.  He  says,  "For  when  for  the  time 
ye  ought  to  be  teachers,  ye  have  need  that  one 
teach  you  again  which  be  the  first  principles  of  the 
oracles  of  God;  and  are  become  such  as  have  need 
of  milk,  and  not  of  strong  meat."  (Hebrews  5 :  12- 
14.) 

Here  is  going  back  to  the  nursery  for  a  second 
training,  and  a  second  growth  out  of  infancy.  How 
humiliating  this  would  be  literally  to  some  great 
characters  if  forced  by  some  law  of  nature,  as  a 
penalty  for  neglect  of  opportunities,  to  take  their 
places  back  in  the  homes  of  their  infancy,  and  at 
the  mother's  breast,  after  having  filled  places  of  dis- 
tinguishing honor  in  both  church  and  state!  After 
growing  towards  maturity  for  years,  then  turn 
and  grow  towards  dwarf  age,  back  to  infancy !  Who 
can  think  it?     And  yet  this  is  the  condition  that 

33 


The  Exalted  Life 

Paul  found  in  the  Church.  He  said  they  were  un- 
skillful, that  is,  they  lack  experience,  they  were 
without  any  qualification  for  Christian  work. 

This  same  class  of  immature,  infantile  Christians 
are  brought  to  view  in  I.  Corinthians  3 :  1-4.  Here 
is  the  regenerated  man;  but  living  under  his  fleshly 
propensities,  and  allowing  them  a  measure  of  as- 
cendent rule,  he  is  only  a  "babe  in  Christ."  He  is 
so  largely  carnal  that  only  the  simplest  things  of 
the  Spirit  can  be  comprehended,  just  *'milk." 

But  while  there  was  only  infancy  on  the  one  hand, 
there  was  full  manhood,  of  its  character,  on  the 
other  hand.  While  in  divine  things  they  were 
weak  as  little  children,  in  carnal  things  they  were 
strong  and  lusty.  This  was  seen  in  the  spirit  of 
envy,  strife,  and  divisions  which  they  stirred  up  in 
the  Church.  Here  they  were  strong.  Is  there  any- 
thing like  this  in  the  Church  of  to-day?  Where 
does  it  come  from?  It  is  fleshly,  and  comes  from 
the  flesh,  and  not  from  the  Holy  Spirit;  for  he 
never  divides  the  body  of  Christ.  He  rather  uni- 
fies it  and  builds  it  up. 

Now,  the  important  question,  the  question  of  all 
questions  is,  how  to  get  out  of  this  condition  of 
weakness,  this  dwarfage,  this  spiritual  atrophy, 
into  the  strength  and  glory  of  fullest  manhood. 
This  should  be  carefully  studied  by  all  anxious 
ones. 

The  goal  that  Paul  set  for  himself  is  found  in 
Philippians  3 :  12-14.  "Mark"  here  means  goal, 
"high  calhng"  means  upward.  Paul's  aim  was  al- 
ways upward,  never  downward.  This  should  be  the 
aim   of    every    Christian.      Where    and    when   the 

34 


What  do  with  Divme  Ideals 

end  of  this  divine  disclosure  may  be  reached  is 
difficult  to  determine.  "The  pathway  of  the  just 
is  as  a  shining  light,  that  shineth  more  and  more 
unto  the  perfect  day."  The  view  is  ever  enlarging 
as  one  ascends,  like  climbing  to  the  summit  of 
some  great  mountain;  and  more  and  more  life  be- 
comics  a  victory  until  the  last  and  final  victory  is 
won.  "They  go  from  strength  to  strength."  (Psalms 
8:5-7.)  "We  all,  with  open  face  beholding  as  in 
a  glass  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  are  changed  into  the 
same  image  from  glory  to  glory,  even  as  by  the 
Spirit  of  the  Lord."  (IL  Corinthians  3:  18.)  An 
unveiled  face  brings  a  transformation  into  the  di- 
vine likeness.  "And  of  his  fulness  have  all  we  re- 
ceived, and  grace  for  grace."  Here  grace  and 
glory  both  multiply  in  the  believer.  This  multipli- 
cation follows  clearness  of  vision  and  ihe  strength 
of  faith.  It  is  wonderful  how  Christ  can  multiply 
himself,  like  he  multiplied  the  loaves  and  the  fishes 
in  the  wilderness. 

This  abounding  grace  displays  itself  first  in  the 
salvation  of  the  sinner,  and  later  in  his  life  and 
service.  "Being  justified  freely  by  his  grace  through 
the  redemption  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus,"  we  have  the 
abounding  life  of  Romans  6;  14,  15.  "For  sin  shall 
not  have  dominion  over  you :  for  ye  are  not  under 
law,  but  under  grace." 

This  grace  in  the  renewed  heart  is  a  great  work- 
ing force.  Paul  said  it  wrought  in  him  mightily. 
It  has  in  it  the  spirit  of  intensity,  an  unconquerable 
go.  It  brings  out  and  puts  to  work  the  best  there  is 
in  a  man.  It  insures  success  to  the  one  fully  yield- 
ed to  it,  and  works  wonders  in  the  line  of  achieve- 

35 


The  Exalted  Life 

ments  and  attainments.  It  makes  one  unconquer- 
able and  indomitable.  Paul  said,  *'I  can  do  all 
things  through  Christ  which  strengtheneth  me." 
Then  he  talks  about  being  ^'strengthened  with  all 
might." 

This  is  the  power  our  weakened  human  nature 
needs  and  which  it  must  have  in  order  to  a  noble 
ascension.  Water  will  run  down  hill,  but  it  must 
be  forced  up  hill.  One  may  stumble  down  hill, 
but  it  takes  strenuous  climbing  to  get  up  hill.  The 
law  of  gravity  makes  it  easy  to  go  downward,  but 
hard  to  go  upward.  So  morally,  nature  will  carry 
us  downward,  but  only  grace  can  lift  us  upward. 

As  ideals  are  given  for  realization,  they  must  be 
worked  out  zealously  and  passionately.  To  do  this 
the  divine  life  must  be  incorporated  into  the  human 
for  its  insp* ration  and  fashioning.  Christ  on  no  ac- 
count and  for  no  reason  must  be  left  out  of  the 
reckoning.  He  alone  can  give  spiritual  freedom  and 
enlargement.  He  becomes  the  center  and  fountain 
out  of  which  all  goodness  flows.  Jesus  said,  "A 
good  man  out  of  the  good  treasure  of  the  heart 
bringeth  forth  good  things,  and  an  evil  man  out  of 
the  evil  treasure  of  his  heart  bringeth  forth  evil 
things."  Here  the  heart  is  made  the  reservoir  in 
which  life  is  stored  and  out  of  which  issues  the  very 
elixir  of  life  or  the  deadliest  poison.  It  makes  a 
man's  heaven  or  his  hell  on  earth. 

The  life  that  is  mean  and  low  brings  everything 
to  its  level  sooner  or  later,  usually  sooner.  To  the 
noble  minded  and  exalted  in  purpose,  everything 
soars  and  sings.  No  one  can  have  Christ  living 
and  reigning  in  him  without  such  a  life.     He  car- 

36 


What  do  with  Divine  Ideals' 

ries  the  whole  range  of  being  upward,  sunward, 
heavenward,  The  believer's  influence,  in  whose 
heart  the  Holy  Spirit  dwells,  becomes  a  rushing 
cataract  of  divine  power,  sweeping  over  all  bar- 
riers and  covering  all  the  lowlands  of  evil  with  its 
transforming  life.  Jesus  compared  it  to  "rivers  of 
living  water."  Paul  says,  "God  is  able  to  make  all 
grace  abound  toward  you ;  that  ye,  always  having 
all  sufficiency  in  all  things,  may  abound  to  every 
good  work."     (II.  Corinthians  9:  8.) 

However  seemingly  unattainable  to  human  reason 
the  calls  and  requirements  of  God  in  the  line  of 
duty  and  personal  achievement,  here  we  have  the 
divine  guarantee  of  all-sufficient  grace  for  the  day, 
the  hour,  and  the  work. 

"He  is  able!"  Who  can  measure  the  divine 
ability?  Let  the  created  worlds,  with  their  suns 
and  systems,  answer.  Let  the  mighty  and  undis- 
coverable  forces  of  earth  answer.  The  heavens 
declare  His  glory;  and  the  firmament  showeth  his 
handiwork.  (Read  the  29th  Psalm.)  The  angels 
shield  their  eyes  from  the  smiting  of  his  ineffable 
glory  with  their  folded  wings.  David  says,  "God 
hath  spoken  once;  twice  have  I  Tieard  this,  that 
power  belongeth  unto  God."  Jesus  said,  "All  power 
is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  in  earth. 

This  shower  of  blessings  comes  first  upon  the 
individual  believer  himself,  so  that  having  under  all 
circumstances  and  on  all  occasions  all  personal  needs 
fully  met,  he  may  become  a  shower  of  blessing 
to  others. 

How  fully  this  comports  with  God's  promise  to 
his  ancient  people.     (Malachi  3 :  10.)     The  promise 

37 


The  Exalted  Life 

to  them  was  that  if  they  would  prove  him  by 
bringing  all  the  tithes  into  the  storehouse,  that  he 
would  "open  the  windows  of  heaven,  and  pour  out 
a  blessing  that  there  should  not  be  room  enough  to 
receive  it."  God  wants  us  to  prove  him  and  put 
him  to  the  test.  Here  is  a  challenge  of  faith.  He 
wants  to  verify  his  promise  to  his  people.  Paul 
said,  "He  is  able."  So  here  is  the  question  of  the 
divine  ability  to  do  as  he  says.  Shall  we  hold  this 
to  be  real,  or  only  ideal?  H  we  admit  his  ability 
will  we  also  admit  his  willingness?  Is  he  willing 
to  pour  such  a  flood  of  grace  upon  his  Church  that 
all  capacity  for  its  reception  and  use  would  be 
overwhelmed?    not    room    enough    to    receive    it? 

As  then,  so  now.  God  wants  his  people  to  prove 
him.  Is  this  not  perfectly  sane  and  safe?  You 
bring  the  tithes  and  prove  me,  was  his  word.  There 
was  no  contingency  as  to  time.  Prove  me  now^ 
to-day,  and  see  "if  I  will  not  open  to  you  the  win- 
dows of  heaven  and  pour  you  out  a  blessing  that 
there  shall  not  be  room  enough  to  receive  it." 

How  like  Pentecost  this  sounds.  How  in  har- 
mony with  what  was  spoken  by  the  prophet  Joel  as 
quoted  by  Peter  in  his  sermon  at  Pentecost.  (Acts 
2:  16-21.)  Here  "last  days"  relates  to  Israel's  his- 
tory as  a  nation,  and  not  to  the  last  day  of  time. 
In  this  prophecy  God  said  he  would  pour  his  spirit 
upon  "all  flesh."  This  is  our  day,  the  Pentecost 
day  of  the  Church,  the  Christian  dispensation,  in 
contrast  with  the  Jewish  dispensation  which  ended 
at  this  time. 

Was  not  this  prophecy  literally  fulfilled  at  Pente- 
cost?    Plad   Israel   proved   God  by  bringing  their 

38 


What  do  with  Divine  Ideals 

tithes  into  the  storehouse,  and  ceased  as  a  nation  to 
rob  him,  they  would  have  shared  in  this  wonderful 
blessing  on  this  beginning  day  of  the  Christian 
Church ;  but,  instead,  they  kept  up  their  fraudulent 
methods  and  went  into  utter  wreckage,  and  became 
a  '"hissing,"  a  ''byword,"  and  a  "curse"  among  all 
nations.  Their  crowning  act  of  repudiation  was 
when  they  rejected  God's  only  Son.  "He  came  unto 
his  own  [his  own  people]  and  his  own  received 
him  not."  Here  the  cup  of  their  iniquity  was  full, 
and  they  were  broken  up  and  were  scattered  among 
all  nations. 

Now,  as  this  prophetic,  this  ideal  life,  to  Israel, 
became  an  actual  realization  when  Christ  came  and 
when  the  Holy  Spirit  was  poured  out  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost,  may  we  not  as  living  members  of  the 
Church,  belonging  as  we  do  to  this  glorious  Church 
age,  reasonably  expect  to  share  in  the  fullness  of 
this  life  as  given  in  promise  and  realized  at  Pente- 
cost? or  will  we  call  it  purely  idealistic,  belong- 
ing to  another  and  superior  age,  and  having  no 
marked  and  striking  relation  to  our  day? 

Let  us  rather  prize  the  richness,  the  fullness,  and 
the  reality  of  our  inheritance  by  meeting  the  con- 
ditions on  which  it  is  promised.  Are  not  the  con- 
ditions reasonable  and  of  possible  compliance?  If 
so,  then  who  would  hesitate  for  one  moment  to  meet 
them  in  the  light  of  the  promised  blessing?  Is  not 
the  Church  in  need  of  new,  quickened,  and  larger 
life?  Will  the  reader  please  stop  for  a  moment, 
honestly  and  prayerfully  look  within,  and  ask  his 
own  heart  if  it  does  not  need  renewed  life?  Are 
the  days  that  are  gone  better  than  these?    Is  there 

39 


The  Exalted  Life 

the  conscious  fellowship  with  Jesus  that  there  was 
when  younger  in  years  and  nearer  the  beginning  of 
this  heavenly  life?  If  so,  why?  Is  the  beginning 
experience  better  than  the  advanced?  Is  immatur- 
ity better  than  maturity?  Is  childhood  better  than 
manhood?  Is  dwarf  age  better  than  growth?  Is 
the  far  country  with  its  famine  better  than  Father's 
house  with  its  ''bread  enough  and  to  spare"? 

These,  more  than  any  others,  ought  to  be  the 
"days  of  heaven  upon  earth"  to  the  Church.  Christ 
more  than  ever  ought  to  be  "all  and  in  all"  to  his 
people.  The  multiplication  of  the  Scriptures,  the 
growth  of  the  Church  in  membership,  the  enlarged 
facilities  for  extending  and  strengthening  the  king- 
dom of  God,  ought  to  make  this  the  brightest  day 
the  world  has  ever  seen.  Things  are  more  real- 
istic to-day  than  ever.  The  days  of  mere  dreams 
and  visions,  the  apocryphal,  are  over,  and  things  are 
moving  towards  the  final  consummation. 

The  efforts  of  the  ministry  ought  now,  more  than 
ever,  to  aim  to  reduce  Christian  ideals  and  profes- 
sions to  actual  practice.  It  ought  unquestionably 
to  stand  for  the  deity  of  Jesus  Christ  practically 
applied  here  and  now  to  the  whole  of  life  in  the 
view  of  the  whole  of  eternity.  Unless  the  Chris- 
tian theory  of  life  is  put  into  every-day  practice, 
it  is  a  dead  letter.  The  Bible  and  its  teachings 
must  form  the  basis  of  life's  daily  activities. 

There  is  need  for  a  new  spiritual  awakening  that 
will  overcome  lukewarmness,  give  new  strength 
and  power  to  the  ministry,  that  will  flood  the 
whole  Church  with  a  tide  of  spirituality.  This  will 
start  new  life  in  the  home,  resurrect  family  altars 

40 


What  do  with  Divine  Ideals 

from  the  graves  of  obscurity,  set  a  new  spiritual 
pace  in  the  prayer-meetings  and  Sunday  schools 
of  the  Church,  convert  the  contribution  of  nickels 
and  dimes  into  dollars,  and  make  the  difference  be- 
tween those  who  are  Christians  and  those  who  are 
not,  more  marked. 

The  danger  to-day  is  misdirected  efforts,  efforts 
applied  to  wrong  things  and  in  the  wrong  direction. 
Better  ecclesiastical  legislation,  larger  membership, 
better  co-operation,  a  more  cultivated  ministry,  bet- 
ter and  more  efficient  leadership  in  official  posi- 
tions, is  the  clamorous  cry  of  the  hour.  All  these 
are  very  important  things  in  the  work  of  the 
Church ;  but  the  chief  need  is  a  genuine  spiritual 
awakening  that  will  flood  every  avenue  of  Chris- 
tian life.  Not  a  reform,  but  spiritual  quickening. 
This  new  life  will  work  its  own  reform.  Regener- 
ation the  cure  of  degeneration.  Christ  within,  rul- 
ing in  an  ascendant  way,  corrects  the  life  without. 
Tliere  must  first  be  involution  before  there  can 
be  evolution.  This  cannot  be  done  by  an  invasion 
of  forces. 

There  possibly  was  never  more  and  better  preach- 
ing, intellectually,  than  now ;  but  what  about  the 
effect?  The  Church  was  never  better  organized, 
utilizing  all  its  agencies,  never  more  meet- 
ings of  every  kind,  and  never  more  efforts  to  attract 
the  multitudes  than  now ;  but  what  the  result  ? 

Does  not  the  complaint  of  lukewarmness  come 
from  well  nigh  every  direction?  that  there  is  a 
lack  of  spiritual  feeling  in  the  devotional  exercise, 
and  that  the  ministry  has  declined  in  its  strength 
and  in  its  convincing  and  convicting  power?    That 

41 


The  Exalted  Life 

the  preaching  is  able,  learned,  interesting,  and  in- 
structive, is  readily  admitted;  but  where  is  the  old- 
time  affirmation  that  used  to  ring  out  from  the 
pulpits  of  the  fathers?  The  old  Bible  and  theolog- 
ical terms,  such  as  ''conviction,"  "repentance,"  "con- 
fession," "regeneration,"  "sanctification,"  "adop- 
tion," "death  to  sin,"  have  to  an  extent,  in  some 
pulpits  become  meaningless  and  discarded  terms. 
Instead  of  these — for  there  must  be  something 
instead — v^e  are  having  "psychology,"  "suggestive 
therapeutics,"  "social  ethics,"  and  kindred  subjects. 
For  this  condition  of  things  so  far  as  it  has 
obtained,  there  is  but  one  certain  and  sure  cure; 
namely,  the  quickening  and  deepening  of  the  spirit- 
ual life  by  a  new  inflowing  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
This  will  make  the  ideal  real.  Well  may  the  cry 
go  up  for  the  Holy  Spirit  to  come  from  the  four 
winds,  and  breathe  upon  these  slain  that  they  may 
live. 


42 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Lessons  and  Blessings  of  Unrealized   Ideals. 

Paul  gives  utterance  to  a  wonderful  mystery  in 
his  letter  to  the  Romans  (Romans  8:26)  when  he 
says,  "We  know  that  all  things  work  together  for 
good  to  them  that  love  God,  to  them  who  are  called 
according  to  his  purpose."  It  is  with  this  mystery 
that  we  shall  largely  deal  in  this  chapter. 

While  ideals  are  given  for  realization,  yet  such 
are  the  limitations  of  human  reason  and  human 
discernment  that  these  ideals  may  often  be  misap- 
plied and  misinterpreted  in  their  application  to 
human  life.  It  takes  the  whole  of  individual  his- 
tory, with  its  varied  and  complex  experiences,  to 
make  up  that  mysterious  compound  that  each  char- 
acter finally  represents.  To  the  question,  "Have 
you  ever  been  disappointed,"  the  answer  would  not 
be  difficult  to  give.  The  "sack  of  gold"  at  the  end 
of  the  rainbow  on  the  near-by  hill  has  never  yet 
been  obtained.  The  dreams  of  earlier  years  as  to 
what  one  would  be  and  what  one  would  do,  es- 
pecially as  to  the  road  leading  to  these  goals,  has 
been  realized  by  but  few.  Life  may  have  been 
mapped  out  and  carefully  programmed,  but  how  few 
have  followed  their  own  life-plan.  If  life  has  been 
successful,  as  now  looked  back  upon,  it  has  been 
so  largely  in  spite  of  this  human  planning.  How 
forcible  and  instructive  in  this  connection  the  words 
of  the  prophet  Jeremiah,   "O   Lord,  I  know  that 

43 


The  Exalted  Life 

the  way  of  man  is  not  in  himself ;  it  is  not  in  man 
that  walketh  to  direct  his  steps."  (Jeremiah  10:  23.) 
Then  he  cries,  *^0  Lord,  correct  me."  Such  is 
the  conceit  of  the  human  heart  that  it  takes  great 
grace  and  full  submission  to  the  divine  will  to 
invite  a  revision,  if  not  the  overthrow  of  life's 
plans.  To  commit  our  ways  unto  the  Lord,  and  let 
him  direct  our  paths,  is  the  only  assured  way  of 
success  in  life's  mission. 

The  closing  days  of  Paul's  life  were  full  of  seem- 
ing confusion,  wreckage,  and  failure.  His  plans 
checked,  and  his  surroundings  vicious  and  hostile. 
His  world-wide  evangelism  ended  in  a  Roman 
prison ;  but  hear  him,  'T  know  that  this  shall  turn 
to  my  salvation."  He  knew  all  would  end  well, 
and  so  it  did,  but  not  as  any  human  heart  or 
brain  would  have  planned.  Not  only  did  all  work 
well  with  him,  but  to  the  mission  of  the  gospel 
as  well.  To  the  church  at  Philippi  he  wrote,  'T 
would  have  you  understand,  brethren,  that  the 
things  which  happened  unto  me  have  fallen  out 
rather  to  the  furtherance  of  the  gospel."  What 
seemed  a  hindrance  at  the  first  proved  a  help  in 
the  end.  The  clouds  of  darkness  and  persecution 
brought  a  shower  of  blessing.  Bondage  became 
liberty,  the  prison  a  palace,  the  dungeon  a  place 
of  brightest  vision. 

We  never  know  our  real  strength,  or  the  security 
of  our  foundation  until  tested  by  the  storm.  It  is 
the  wild  winds  and  the  ocean's  engulfing  billows 
that  make  the  sailor,  and  the  battle  with  its  car- 
nage and  blood  that  makes  the  warrior.  We  do 
not  know  the  value  of  gold  that  is  hidden  in  the 

44 


Lessons  and  Blessings  of  Unrealized  Ideals 

ore  until  it  is  tried  in  the  fire.  The  counsel  to  the 
Laodicean  Church  is  that  given  to  every  Christian, 
"I  counsel  thee  to  buy  of  me  gold  tried  in  the  fire, 
that  thou  mayest  be  rich;  and  white  raiment,  that 
thou  mayest  be  clothed."  Nothing  less  than  the 
tried,  the  tested,  the  real,  should  satisfy. 

Our  loftiest  spiritual  visions,  and  our  greatest 
personal  triumphs  often  come  from  what  seem 
the  utter  blight  and  wreckage  of  earthly  hopes  and 
earthly  plans.  Abraham's  from  a  pilgrim-life,  the 
life  of  a  stranger;  Job's  from  a  dreary  landscape, 
swept  bare  by  Satan's  emissaries;  Daniel's  from  a 
gruesome  den  of  ferocious  beasts ;  Paul's  from  his 
filthy  dungeon  in  Rome;  John's  from  the  lonely 
island  in  the  ^gian  Sea;  and  John  Bunyan's  from 
the  world-renowned  Bedford  jail. 

Now,  let  us  enlarge  upon  this  for  a  moment. 
How  good  it  is  that  the  visions  of  life  do  not  all 
come  at  once.  They  would  often  be  overwhelming 
to  our  senses.  Some  of  the  ancients  fell  as  dead 
under  the  disclosures  of  the  divine  character.  These 
disclosures  come  in  harmony  with  the  way  life  is 
lived.  We  live  only  a  moment  at  a  time ;  we  take 
only  one  step  at  a  time;  we  do  only  one  thing  at  a 
time.  We  cannot  live  all  life  in  a  day.  Divine 
support  is  given  only  by  the  day.  ''As  thy  day, 
so  shall  thy  strength  be." 

A  few  examples,  as  illustrations  of  unrealized 
hopes,  may  be  studied  with  profit  in  their  connec- 
tion with  our  subject.  To  begin  with,  the  life, 
character,  work,  and,  finally,  departure  of  Moses, 
Israel's  deliverer,  lawyer,  and  leader,  may  be  taken 
as  a  striking  instance  in  this  illustration. 

45 


The  Exalted  Life 

After  freeing  the  people  from  the  bondage  of 
Egypt;  leading  them  through  "that  great  and  ter- 
rible wilderness" ;  patiently  brooking  their  oft  re- 
peated revolts  and  outcries  of  discontent;  acting 
as  a  daysman  between  them  and  an  offended  God; 
stimulating  their  faith  and  courage  in  times  of  ad- 
versity— himself  never  losing  faith  in  them  or  dis- 
pairing  of  them — he  finally  came  to  that  marvelous 
end,  a  lone  man  on  the  summit  of  a  great  moun- 
tain, where  he  died.  Think  of  what  he  refused — a 
home  in  a  kingly  palace;  think  of  what  he  chose 
instead — ''affliction  with  the  people  of  God'";  ana, 
finally,  think  of  his  estimate  of  things,  the  "re- 
proach of  Christ" — mark  you,  ''Christ" — "greater 
riches  than  the  treasures  of  Egypt." 

What  must  have  been  his  feelings,  viewed  from 
the  standpoint  of  the  human,  after  all  this  career 
of  suffering,  to  be  denied  entrance  into  the  land  he 
had  so  steadfastly  believed  in,  and  toward  which 
he  had  led  the  people  for  all  the  years  since  they 
left  Eg}Apt?  The  people  entered  the  land  of  prom- 
ise after  his  death,  under  the  leadership  of  another; 
a  land  that  they  might  never  have  seen,  but  for  him. 
He  deserves  to  be  classed  among  the  martyrs  of 
old,  giving  his  life  for  the  public  good.  The  re- 
ward he  won  for  others  was  denied  the  winner 
himself.  He  saw  the  land  from  his  mountain  sum- 
mit, the  entrance  to  which  he  was  never  permitted 
to  enjoy. 

It  was  a  long  journey  from  the  Nile  to  Nebo,  in- 
volving great  trials,  hard  work,  and  intense  suffer- 
ing, all  for  the  good  of  others.  Hundreds  of  years 
passed  between  the  promise  of  this  land  and   its 

46 


Lessons   and  Blessings  of  Unrealized  Ideals 

realization,  but  his  faith  never  wavered.  The 
record  says,  "By  faith"  he  did  all  these  things.  "If 
the  promise  tarries,  faith  waits." 

Was  this  non-possession  of  the  land  by  Moses  a 
defeat?  By  no  means.  Denied  the  literal,  he  entered 
the  spiritual,  the  heavenly.  God  always  compen- 
sates for  our  disappointments,  our  losses,  T)y  giving 
a  greater  good  than  that  which  he  takes  away.  He 
gave  to  Moses  the  heavenly,  the  divine,  instead  of 
the  earthly. 

Was  not  his  death  a  triumph?  Who  would  not 
like  to  depart  this  life  as  he  did?  It  was  not  from 
old  age,  from  sickness,  from  feebleness,  or  ineffi- 
ciency. It  was  by  a  divine  order.  "He  died  accord- 
ing to  the  word  of  the  Lord."  The  Lord  first 
showed  him  all  the  land,  told  him  of  the  covenant 
that  he  had  made  with  Abraham  and  his  seed,  and 
then  said,  "I  have  caused  thee  to  see  it  with  thine 
eyes,  but  thou  shalt  not  go  over  thither."  So  Moses 
the  servant  of  the  Lord  died  there  in  the  land  of 
Moab. 

Then  was  not  his  burial  a  glorious  event?  So 
far  as  we  know  there  was  no  human  undertaker, 
sexton,  pallbearers,  or  attendants.  God  and  the 
angels  had  charge  of  this  burial.  Human  hands 
were  too  foul  to  handle  his  body  or  dig  his  grave. 
The  angels  from  heaven  attended  that  funeral  ser- 
vice. What  an  honor  to  have  such  a  burial !  Did 
any  earthly  king  ever  so  depart? 

No  friend  or  kindred  ever  visited  that  cemetery 
and  looked  on  that  grave.  The  pilgrims  of  the 
ages,  and  modern  travelers  to  the  Oriental  countries 
have  never  been  able  to  locate  that  grave  and  do 

47 


The  Exalted  Life 

honor  to  its  dead.     It  is  unknown,  but  still  cared 
for,  for  "God  keeps  watch  over  his  own." 

Why  was  Moses  not  permitted  to  enter  the  prom- 
ised land?  may  be  asked.  Here  no  one  may  pre- 
sume to  know  all  about  the  divine  will  and  the 
divine  purposes.  This  we  know:  He  sinned  at 
Kadesh  in  smiting  the  rock.  He  exalted  himself. 
(Numbers  20:10.)  li  this  smiting  in  any  way 
represents  Christ's  crucifixion,  then  we  see  the 
offense.  Paul  refers  to  Christ  as  that  rock  (I. 
Corinthians  10:4),  who,  being  once  crucified,  need 
not  to  be  crucified  again.     "He  died  once  for  all." 

Then  Moses  represented  a  dispensation  that  could 
not  perfect  things — the  law.  The  "law  made  nothing 
perfect."  Grace  is  a  covenant  of  perfection ;  it 
represents  an  accomplished,  a  completed  redemp- 
tion in  Christ,  who  tasted  death  once  for  all.  Not 
only  for  all  humanity,  but  for  all  time. 

In  further  illustration  of  this  thought  of  the 
subject  let  us  take  the  life  of  Abraham.  He  had 
Canaan  by  promise,  but  he  never  literally  inherited 
or  possessed  it.  He  lived  as  a  stranger  and  as  a 
pilgrim  in  this  very  land.  He  sojourned  in  it  as  a 
strange  country.  The  history  says,  "God  gave 
him  none  inheritance  in  it,  no,  not  so  much  as  to 
set  his  foot  on :  yet  he  promised  that  he  would  give 
it  to  him  for  a  possession."  (Acts  7:  5.)  He  had 
to  buy  a  tomb  to  bury  Sarah  in  ;  so  he  had  only  a 
few  feet  of  earth  in  the  land  of  promise,  and  these 
by  purchase.  Isaac  had  but  little  in  it;  Jacob  died 
in  a  foreign  country,  and  his  descendants  found 
war,  labor,  and  imrest.  Paul  speaking  of  this  says, 
"If  Joshua  had  given  them  rest,  then  would  he  not 

48 


Lessons  and  Blessings   of  Unrealized  Ideals 

afterward  have  spoken  of  another  day."  Speaking 
of  them  again,  and  in  a  more  general  way  he  says, 
"These  all  died  in  faith,  not  having  received  the 
promise." 

Now,  what  about  life,  and  what  about  its  ideals? 
Is  all  life  illusory,  a  cheat  and  a  delusion,  and 
must  all  end  in  non-possession?  What  does  it  all 
mean?  What  are  some  of  its  lessons?  In  the  two 
instances  named,  Moses  and  Abraham,  the  promise 
seemed  never  literally  realized.  They  died,  as  it 
is  said  of  all  the  heroes  of  faith,  "not  having  re- 
ceived the  promises,  but  having  seen  them  afar  off, 
and  were  persuaded  of  them,  and  embraced  them." 

In  the  lives  of  these  ancient  pilgrims  we  have  a 
principle  well  verified  in  the  experience  of  thou- 
sands and  millions  since  their  day.  Abraham 
looked  for  another  city,  one  with  sure  foundations, 
and  so  confessed  that  he  was  an  alien  and  a  stranger 
on  the  earth. 

Here  is  the  true  test  and  development  of  faith. 
Unfulfilled  and  unrealized  promises  are  the  divine 
school  in  which  and  where  faith  is  proven  and 
strengthened.  On  earth,  things  are  ever  changing 
and  fading.  "Here  we  have  no  continuing  city." 
There  is  a  brighter  day  ahead.  A  whole  eternity 
of  value  and  expectation  looms  on  the  field  of  vis- 
ion. With  all  life's  changes,  to  the  Christian  it  is 
not  a  deception.  Canaan  was  not  a  delusion,  but 
an  illusion.  It  led  the  Israelites  on  to  something 
greater  and  better.  Only  the  temporal  would  serve 
as  a  beginning.  The  spiritual  comes  later.  "How- 
belt,   that  is  not   first   which   is  spiritual,  but  that 

49 


The  Exalted  Life 

which  is  natural ;  and  afterward  that  which  is  spir- 
itual."     (I.  Corinthians   15:46.) 

The  training  and  discipline  of  the  wilderness  was 
a  leading  on  to,  and  a  preparation  for  the  higher, 
the  spiritual,  the  kingdom  within.  God's  rewards 
are  always  larger  and  better  than  that  for  which 
we  work.  Earthly  environment  cannot  long  be  the 
home  and  be  suited  to  one  that  has  a  heavenly 
nature  and  a  heavenly  life  within  him.  Such  a 
life  soon  puts  him  into  pilgrimage  and  in  pursuit  of 
the  heavenly  city.  We  are  ever  outgrowing  our  en- 
vironments; manhood  puts  away  childhood. 

Let  us  follow  the  historical  a  little  farther,  se- 
lecting one  illustration  from  the  New  Testament 
Scriptures.  The  Old  Testament  is  farther  removed 
from  us,  more  symbolical  than  the  New,  and  hence 
might  not,  on  this  account,  be  as  commanding  in 
its  force  of  teaching. 

When  Paul  was  on  his  way  to  Rome,  Trophimus, 
an  associate  of  Paul's  in  his  missionary  work,  was 
with  him,  and  doubtless  wanted  to  go  with  him  and 
minister  to  him  in  his  afflictions;  but  he  got  no 
farther  in  his  journey  than  Miletus,  where  he  was 
stricken  with  sickness,  and  where  Paul  had  to  leave 
him.  Here  the  light  of  his  life,  historically,  went 
out  and  never  appears  again.  Instead  of  going  on 
to  Rome  he  had  to  languish  on  a  bed  of  sickness, 
and  from  this  drop  out  of  view.  How  in  contrast 
such  an  experience  to  that  of  active,  aggressive 
work  in  the  field  of  Christian  evangelism. 

Here  we  have  the  picture  of  thousands  of  zeal- 
ous Christians.  How  many  a  mother  longs  to  be 
well  so  that  she  may  serve  and  do  the  best  for  the 

50 


Lessons   and  Blessings   of  Unrealized  Ideals 

welfare  of  her  children.  How  many  a  wife  laments 
that  she  has  fallen  a  helpless  invalid  on  the  hands 
of  her  husband,  to  whom  she  wants  to  be  a  help- 
meet. Many  a  minister  sits  in  his  solitary  chair  at 
home  when  his  mind  roams  over  the  fields  he  has 
traveled,  his  heart  yearning  for  the  opportmiity  of 
once  more  standing  on  that  mount  of  transfigura- 
tion and  sharing  in  the  joy  that  comes  from  such  an 
association.  There  are  many  like  Trophimus 
among  us  to-day,  halted  in  their  journey  by  afflic- 
tion, whose  ideals,  to  them,  have  vanished  in  mist, 
and  their  holiest  schemes  dissolved  before  their 
vision. 

Now,  is  there  any  relief,  any  interpretation  that 
will  bring  comfort  in  all  this?    Let  us  see. 

First.  Our  seeming  failures  are  often  our  great- 
est successes.  What  is  called  and  what  often  seems 
a  success  to  some  people,  ends  in  utter  ruin.  Pov- 
erty is  the  safeguard  of  many  a  man's  religion.  If 
prospered  he  would  forsake  the  Lord.  Poverty,  as 
such,  is  never  desirable.  The  road  of  real  safety 
and  happiness  lies  between  the  two,  poverty  and 
riches.  Here  the  prayer  of  Agur  is  instructive: 
''Give  me  neither  poverty  nor  riches;  feed  me  with 
food  convenient  for  me ;  lest  I  be  full,  and  deny  thee, 
and  say,  'Who  is  the  Lord?'  or  lest  I  be  poor,  and 
steal,  and  take  the  name  of  my  God  in  vain." 
(Proverbs  30:8,  9.) 

Ministers  can  be  named  that  were  once  great 
soul-winners,  but  becoming  elated  over  their  suc- 
cess, to-day  are  resting  high  and  dry  on  the  shelv- 
ing rocks,  waiting  for  some  tide  to  carry  them  some- 
where, they  know  not  whither. 

51 


The  Exalted  Life 

That  there  are  many  honest  workers,  or  would- 
be  workers,  in  the  Lord's  vineyard  so  bound  by  cir- 
cumstances, so  encumbered  in  one  way  and  an- 
other that  they  know  not  what  to  do,  must  be  freely 
admitted;  but  it  is  well  for  us  to  remember  that 
sometimes  our  restraints  enable  us  to  do  more  for 
the  Lord  than  we  could  or  would  do  with  the  most 
enlarged  freedom.  Are  we  willing,  like  John  Bun- 
yan  and  John  the  Baptist,  to  go  to  the  prison  for 
Christ's  sake?  Will  we  take  our  place  with  Troph- 
imus,  and  linger  by  the  way? 

Second.  God  accepts  the  honest  wish  for  the 
deed  that  would  have  been  done,  but  for  want  of 
ability  or  the  opportunity  was  never  performed. 
There  are  divine  ideals  that  are  ever  leading  us  on- 
ward, but  always  outmeasuring  us.  If  not,  would 
we  not  be  very  small  in  our  achievements?  There 
are  gifts  we  should  like  to  make,  love  we  should 
like  to  bestow,  evils  we  should  like  to  remove,  but 
are  never  quite  able  to  measure  up  to  our  enlarged 
desires.  It  is  possible  to  miss  the  opportunity  of 
doing  anything,  because  waiting  to  do  some  great 
thing.  We  must  do  the  thing  that  is  at  hand,  that 
we  can  do,  and  not  wait  for  the  thing  we  most  like 
to  do.  The  sin  of  the  man  with  one  talent  was  in 
not  using  it.  The  spirit  of  doing  will  go  far  to- 
ward making  us  doers,  and  the  spirit  that  is  kingly 
and  queenly  will  go  far  toward  making  us  these 
in  character.  Such  a  spirit  will  convert  a  cottage 
into  a  palace,  and  a  workshop  into  an  art  gallery. 

Paul  says,  *'For  if  there  be  first  a  willing  mind, 
it  is  accepted  according  to  that  a  man  hath,  and 
not  according  to  that  he  hath  not."     (11.  Corinth- 

52 


Lessons  and  Blessings  of  Unrealized  Ideals 

ians  8:  12.)  Outward  limitations  do  not  gauge  or 
determine  the  real  character.  Men  can  be  better 
or  worse  than  the  outward  appearance.  "The  Lord 
seeth  not  as  man  seeth;  for  man  looketh  on  the 
outward  appearance,  but  the  Lord  looketh  on  the 
heart,"  Great  deeds  are  often  done  by  the  most 
quiet  and  unpretentious  in  spirit.  The  self -con- 
ceited never  do  much.  *Tt  is  the  lame  that  take 
the  prey."  The  genuine  strong  are  not  aware  of 
their  strength.  The  humble  woman  of  Jesus'  day 
stands,  by  his  measurement  of  her  gift,  ahead  of 
all  the  Carnegies  and  Rockefellers  of  this  day. 

Love  measures  the  intention  of  the  effort.  The 
little  child's  effort,  though  poor  and  blundering,  is 
taken  for  its  intention.  It  may  be  a  failure,  but  the 
parent  loves  it  all  the  more  ardently  for  the  unsuc- 
cessful effort.  It  tried,  it  was  heart-broken  over 
the  outcome,  but  it  meant  well.  How  strikingly  this 
is  illustrated  in  the  life  of  David.  He  was  denied 
the  honor  of  building  *'an  house  for  the  name  of  the 
Lord"  because  he  was  a  man  of  blood ;  but  the  Lord 
saith  unto  him,  "Thou  didst  well  that  it  was  in  thine 
heart."  Here  God  commended  the  attitude  of 
David's  heart. 

But  with  all  the  dwarfage,  the  feebleness  and 
failure  of  life's  efforts,  who  can  tell  the  glory  and 
richness  of  the  reward  that  awaits  the  honest  in- 
tention of  God's  workmen?  The  queen  of  Sheba 
exclaimed,  when  she  saw  the  glory  of  Solomon. 
"The  half  has  not  been  told."  What  will  be  the 
exclamation  of  the  glorified  saints  when  they  shall 
"see  the  King  in  his  beauty!"  Let  Paul  tell  it; 
"Eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  neither  have  en- 

53 


The  Exalted  Life 

tered  into  the  heart  of  man,  the  things  which  God 
hath  prepared  for  them  that  love  him."  It  is  not 
within  the  range  of  human  wisdom  to  discover  these 
spiritual  verities.  Let  us  catch  the  spirit  of  proph- 
ecy on  this  line.  ''For  since  the  beginning  of  the 
world  men  have  not  heard,  nor  perceived  by  the 
ear,  neither  hath  the  eye  seen,  O  God,  beside  thee, 
what  he  hath  prepared  for  him  that  waiteth  for 
him."  (Isaiah  64:4.)  Oh,  the  folly  of  trying  to 
tell  it  all !  If  we  can  tell  it  all  then  we  have  not  a 
very  full  fountain. 


54 


CHAPTER  V. 
The  Hope  that  Stimulates  Action. 

There  is  a  view  of  human  life  that  seems  utter- 
ly hopeless.  The  woman  of  Tekoah,  called  "a  wise 
woman,"  gave  utterance  to  words  that  are  most 
solemn  and  may  well  be  laid  to  heart,  when  she  said, 
*'For  we  must  needs  die,  and  are  as  water  spilt  on 
the  ground,  which  cannot  be  gathered  up  again." 
When  Moses  was  giving  direction  to  the  Israelites 
in  their  pilgrimage  to  the  land  of  promise,  he  gave 
them  the  solemn  admonition,  "Ye  shall  henceforth 
return  no  more  that  way."  They  were  to  go  over 
the  road  but  once. 

Da3^s  once  lived,  opportunities  once  given  and 
passed,  never  return.  Doors  close  behind  us  never 
to  open  again.  We  are  always  entering  upon  new 
periods  of  time,  and  always  fronting  new  experi- 
ences. W^e  may  observe  anniversary  days  and  thus 
keep  the  recurrence  of  past  events  fresh  in  memory, 
but  the  events  themselves  are  never  repeated. 

How  easy  it  is  to  drop  one  of  the  threads  of 
opportunit}^  and  one  of  the  chords  of  being,  and 
thus  lose  the  rhythm  of  life  and  character  forever. 
We  are  told  of  the  wife  of  an  English  ambassador, 
during  a  splendid  pageant  in  Berlin,  that  unfortu- 
nately unfastened  the  necklace  that  she  was  wear- 
ing, and  lost  in  the  street  a  highly  prized  pearl.  It 
was  trampled  into  the  mud.  It  might  possibly  have 
been  found  if  timely  and  serious  search  had  been 

55 


The  Exalted  Life 

made  for  it;  but  the  grand  procession  must  hurry 
along,  and  a  place  in  the  rank  was  of  more  value 
than  the  lost  pearl.  They  did  not  return  by  the 
same  way,  and  so  the  treasure  was  never  recovered. 

How  like  this  many  a  one  has  lost  the  pearl  of 
great  price,  never  being  able  to  go  over  the  ground 
again  with  new  decisions  and  new  opportunities. 
The  hurry  and  ceaseless  rush  of  the  years  do  not 
allow  of  a  moment's  delay.  The  decision  we  make 
should  be  made  with  such  wisdom  that  all  future 
life  can  be  based  on  it  and  controlled  by  it.  Often 
one  lone,  single  decision  settles  everything  both  for 
time  and  for  eternity.  It  may  have  taken  but  a 
moment  to  make  the  decision,  but  what  a  moment! 
How  valuable  that  hour  upon  the  wise  improvement 
of  which  an  eternity  of  blessedness  depends !  How 
easy  to  let  it  drift  by  and  lose  all.  While  the  gates 
of  grace  swing  open  to  all,  it  is  at  an  infinite  cost, 
and  so  they  cannot  remain  open  long.  We  read  of 
a  door  found  closed  by  belated  ones.  We  may  sigh 
to  be  carried  back  to  youth  again ;  but  this  can 
never  be.  Our  feet  walk  the  sands  of  time  but 
once.  This  is  true  of  all,  whether  of  the  old  or 
of  the  young.  The  wheels  of  time  never  reverse 
their  motion.  We  may  trace  the  footsteps  of  those 
that  have  preceded  us  to  the  shore  of  that  wide 
unrimmed  sea,  and  see  their  last  footprint  half 
washed  away,  but  we  can  never  go  back  and  trace 
our  own  footsteps. 

How  many  lamentations  have  gone  up  when,  and 
because  too  late.  Tweed,  the  great  political  leader 
of  New  York,  said,  as  he  stood  in  the  shadow  of 
life's  evening,  "My  life  has  been  a  failure."     An 

56 


The  Hope  that  Stimulates  Action 

honest  confession,  but  of  what  avail?  Sir  Walter 
Scott,  when  old  and  feeble,  was  wheeled  by  his 
daughter  to  his  desk  for  the  purpose  of  writing. 
The  pen  was  put  in  his  hand,  but  his  hand  was  too 
stiff  and  clumsy  to  wield  it.  In  this  moment  of  disap- 
pointment and  failure  he  said,  "Wheel  me  back  to 
my  bed ;  there  is  nothing  left  for  poor  Sir  W^alter 
but  the  grave!" 

The  two  aspects  of  life,  hopefulness  and  hope- 
lessness, with  their  varying  influences  on  human 
conduct,  are  clearly  designated  in  the  Scriptures. 
Job,  in  the  early  period  of  his  testing  said :  "My 
days  are  swifter  than  a  weaver's  shuttle,  and  are 
spent  without  hope."  "When  a  few  years  are 
come,  then  I  shall  go  the  way  whence  I  shall  not 
return."  David  said :  "My  days  are  like  a  shadow 
that  declineth ;  and  I  am  withered  like  the  grass." 
"As  for  man,  his  days  are  as  grass,-  as  a  flower  of 
the  field,  so  he  flourisheth.  For  the  wind  passeth 
over  it  and  it  is  gone ;  and  the  place  thereof  shall 
know  it  no  more."  "Man  is  like  to  vanity:  his 
days  are  as  a  shadow  that  passeth  away."  "Hope 
deferred  maketh  the  heart  sick.'* 

These  Scriptures  present  the  earthly  side  of  life, 
the  dark,  the  grim,  the  lonely,  the  tenantless,  and 
the  terminal.  It  is  Job's  lament:  "O  remember 
that  my  life  is  wind ;  mine  eye  shall  no  more  see 
good.  The  eye  of  him  that  hath  seen  me  shall  see 
me  no  more ;  thine  eyes  are  upon  me,  and  I  am  not. 
As  the  cloud  is  consumed  and  vanisheth  away:  so 
he  that  goeth  down  to  the  grave  shall  come  up  no 
more.  He  shall  return  no  more  to  his  house,  neither 
shall  his  place  know  him  any  more." 

57 


The  Exalted  Life 

Here  a  man's  place  is  personified,  and  is  repre- 
sented as  refusing  to  longer  continue  his  acquain- 
tance. Like  the  passing  of  a  ship  on  the  sea,  or 
the  bird  cleaving  the  air  with  its  wings,  no  trace  of 
their  passing  is  left.  How  in  contrast  these 
instances  given  in  the  Scriptures  with  other  in- 
stances where  hope  kindles  the  fires  of  desire  and 
expectation  into  a  quenchless  flame.  The  ancient 
Israelites  were  exhorted  as  "prisoners  of  hope"  to 
turn  to  the  stronghold.  They  were  to  live  in  joyous 
anticipation  of  better  days.  "Rejoice  greatly,  O 
daughter  of  Zion ;  Shout,  O  daughter  of  Jerusalem  ; 
behold  thy  King  cometh  unto  thee."  Paul  was  de- 
lighted to  profess  in  the  presence  of  his  enemies  his 
hope  in  the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  He  writes  to 
the  Romans  that  hope  never  disappoints,  never  puts 
to  shame  those  having  reached  standing  grace  in 
the  justified  life.  God  is  the  author  of  hope,  that 
is,  he  inspires  hope,  and  Paul's  wish  for  the  Chris- 
tians at  Rome  was  that  they  might  be  filled,  even  to 
abounding,  with  this  grace. 

But  one  of  the  strongest  utterances  of  Paul  is 
found  in  Hebrews  6:17-20.  Here  God  is  repre- 
sented as  binding  himself  with  an  oath,  to  make 
doubly  sure  his  promise  of  safety  to  those  that  flee 
to  him  "for  refuge,"  and  to  this  end,  "lay  hold 
upon  the  hope  set  before  them,"  which  hope,  he  says 
"we  have  as  an  anchor  of  the  soul,  both  sure  and 
stedfast,  and  which  entereth  into  that  within  the 
veil." 

The  figure  here  is  a  very  striking  and  instructive 
one,  especially  to  mariners  and  to  persons  having 
large  experience  in  traveling  on  the  ocean.     What 

58 


The  Hope  that  Stimulates  Action 

is  the  secret  of  a  ship's  safety  in  time  of  storm 
on  an  angry  sea?  She  is  drifting  before  a  swaying 
typhoon  towards  a  rockbound  coast,  or  a  projecting 
headland,  to  strike  either  of  which  would  be  certain 
destruction.  She  has  no  power  to  withstand  the 
wild  winds  and  the  raging  sea  whose  jaws  are  adrip 
with  foaming  wrath.  There  is  only  one  thing  to 
do — to  drop  her  anchor  and  wait  for  the  abating  of 
the  winds  and  the  calmin.o:  of  the  sea. 

What  a  wonderful  sight  is  a  ship  buffeted  by  the 
sea,  rocking  and  rolling  and  plunging  as  if  in  a  rage 
to  free  itself  from  its  tethered  condition.  Winds  and 
waves  combine  to  make  her  destruction  sure.  For 
the  moment  she  seems  as  helpless  as  a  lamb  in  the 
jaws  of  a  lion;  just  a  helpless  plaything  for  the 
giant  elements  that  sport  with  her  seeming  helpless- 
ness. Now  she  careens  and  seems  helplessly  prone 
as  the  crest  of  the  weaves  goes  over  her ;  but  she  rises 
in  queenly  beauty  and  smiles  in  the  face  of  the  mon- 
ster with  which  she  is  grappling.  Again,  as  you 
watch,  you  see  her  plunging  beneath  a  giant  breaker, 
and  for  a  moment  she  is  lost  to  sight,  but  soon 
emerges  to  view  with  an  ascending  bound  as  defiant 
of  the  storm  as  the  rocks  of  Gibraltar. 

What  at  the  first  seemed  helpless  and  hopeless 
defeat,  is  now  turned  into  triumphant  victory. 
Winds  and  waves  may  do  their  worst;  but  this 
proud  queen  of  the  ocean  will  meet  them  fearlessly, 
and  gaily  and  giddily  toss  her  head  to  the  storm, 
and  defiantly  hold  her  place  in  spite  of  their  rage. 

Now  what  is  the  secret  of  all  this  calm,  confident, 
hopeful  attitude?  It  is  found  in  the  fact  that 
that  ship  has  a  strong  hold,  not  on  the  waters,  nor 

59 


The  Exalted  Life 

on  anything  that  the  waters  support,  but  on  the 
very  foundation  of  the  sea  itself,  that  on  which  the 
ocean  rests,  the  rocks  immovable  and  everlasting. 
Here  the  ship  is  safe,  although  she  cannot  escape 
from  the  wild  winds,  the  buffeting  billows,  and 
this  ever  restless  sea.  For  a  time  she  must  cling 
to  the  unseen  until  conditions  change,  when  she 
may  continue  her  voyage. 

How  exactly  this  fits  the  Christian's  life  in  his 
pilgrimage  through  the  years  to  that  beautiful 
harbor  beyond  the  sea!  Earthly  life,  even  to  the 
Christian,  is  changeful,  restless — ^because  that  is 
ever  shifting  over  which  she  goes — tempest-tossed 
and  dangerous.  Treacherous  seas,  counter  cur- 
rents of  air  and  ocean,  often  confusing  to  the  most 
skillful  mariner,  make  the  anchor  the  only  instru- 
ment of  safety. 

This  large  use  made  of  the  anchor  by  mariners 
at  sea  makes  Paul's  use  of  it  to  illustrate  the  Chris- 
tian's hope  very  impressive  and  instructive.  He 
makes  hope  both  an  act  and  an  object.  As  an  act 
it  lays  hold  of  the  unseen  and  the  unattained.  He 
says :  **We  are  saved  by  hope ;  but  hope  that  is 
seen  is  not  hope;  for  what  a  man  seeth,  why  doth 
he  yet  hope  for?"  No  one  hopes  for  what  he  al- 
ready has  in  possession.  As  an  object  it  is  that  on 
which  the  human  spirit  lays  hold  in  time  of  dis- 
tress. Thus  Christ  is  represented  as  ''the  hope 
set  before  us,"  and  also  as  having  entered  for  us 
"within  the  veil,"  which  hope  Paul  says,  'Sve  have 
as  a  present  possession."  Here  we  have  not  only 
the  risen  and  the  glorified  Christ  on  whom  the  be- 
liever lays   hold   by   faith,   but   we   have  also   the 

60 


The  Hope  that  Stimulates  Action 

grasp,  the  hope,  that  makes  Christ  a  verity  now, 
an  assurance  of  all  the  future  blessedness  promised 
in  the  Word. 

In  this  twofold  relationship,  the  one  is  Christ,  the 
other  is  the  hold  that  the  believer  has  on  him;  the 
one  is  the  trusted,  the  other  is  the  trust;  the  one 
is  the  refuge,  the  other  is  the  entering  into  the  se- 
curity it  gives ;  the  one  is  the  forerunner,  the  other 
is  that  which  reaches  within  the  veil  as  the  anchor 
within  the  sea. 

An  anchor  is  useless  without  something  that  is 
reliable  to  hold  to.  It  was  for  this  purpose  that 
God  in  dealing  with  Abraham,  bound  himself  with 
an  oath.  He  would  make  things  sure,  and  so 
pledged  his  faithfulness,  his  very  life;  "as  true  as 
I  live."  If  an  oath  with  men  is  an  end  of  all 
doubt,  putting  matters  beyond  all  dispute,  what 
ought  God's  oath  do  by  way  of  encouragement  to 
his  people?  To  what  a  marvelous  elevation  above 
all  doubt,  and  to  what  unquestioning  certainty,  this 
oath  raised  the  promises  of  God !  In  the  light  of 
this  certainty  is  it  any  marvel  that  St.  Paul  asks : 
"What  if  some  did  not  believe?  Shall  their  unbe- 
lief make  the  faith  of  God  without  effect?"  By  his 
oath  God  took  matters  into  his  own  hands  and  put 
all  doubt,  as  to  the  final  issue,  to  an  end.  God's 
immutability  and  his  oath  certainly  make  good  an- 
chorage, good  security  for  the  navigator  of  a  wind- 
swept sea.  Ought  not  God's  character,  added  to 
which  is  his  oath,  settle  all  questions  of  doubt?  Is 
God  truthful?  Can  his  promises  be  relied  on?  It 
is  said  that  it  is  impossible  for  God  to  lie.  If  he 
can,  then  he  ceases  to  be  God.     Did  not  Abraham 

61 


The  Exalted  Life 

trust  him,  and  in  the  most  difficult  and  hazardous 
of  all  trials?  Did  not  God  prove  himself  worthy 
of  all  confidence  to  his  ancient  people?  With  whom 
has  he  ever  proven  false?  Who  that  trusted  him 
has  failed?  "They  that  trust  in  the  Lord  shall  be 
as  Mount  Zion,  which  cannot  be  removed,  but 
abideth   forever." 

How  much  are  we  in  need  of  having  these  veri- 
ties emphasized  in  the  modern,  the  present-day 
Church.  In  view  of  what  God  has  done  to  make 
good  his  promises  to  his  people,  is  it  at  all  strange 
that  the  want  of  faith  is  pronounced  sin?  What 
child  of  God  can  help  shuddering  at  the  thought 
of  making  him  a  liar,  when  it  is  said  that  he  "can- 
not lie"?  This  awful  charge  is  committed  by  every 
unbelieving  soul.  John  says,  "He  that  believeth  not 
God  has  made  him  a  liar." 

If  God  has  not  a  good  moral  character,  what- 
ever his  wisdom  or  his  omnipotence,  then  we  are 
all  on  a  wild  unknown  sea,  drifting  and  whirling 
and  plunging  onward  towards  oblivion's  deepest 
and  darkest  night.  Can  any  one  with  this  Bible  in 
his  hand,  and  a  living  experience  in  his  heart,  believe 
this  for  one  moment?  Then  let  us  have  done,  once 
for  all,  with  despoiling  the  divine  character  of  its 
infinite  nobility  and  trustworthiness.  W^ho  can 
think  of  thus  defaming  God,  putting  him  on  a  level 
with  the  devil,  who  is  a  liar,  and  then  offering 
prayer  to  him?  Who  does  this?  "He  that  believeth 
not  God."  After  God  has  so  solemnly  affirmed  his 
character,  and  verified  it  to  his  peoples  through 
all  the  centuries,  can  it  be  possible  that  one  of  his 
children   will   doubt   his   word?     It  is   possible   to 

62 


The  Hope  that  Stimulates  Action 

unconsciously  drop  into  a  morbid  criticalness,  and 
demand  of  infinite  wisdom  reasons  for  some  of  his 
providential  dealings.  Simple  faith  will  do  away 
with  all  this  curious  introspection  and  leave  all 
life's  affairs  to  God,  and  then  wait,  or  as  Moses, 
''endure,  as  seeing  him  who  is  invisible." 

Is  not  the  moral  character  of  God  a  sure  resting 
place  for  the  child  of  faith?  Can  he  not  afford 
to  wait  patiently  for  him,  knowing  that  he  will 
incline  his  ear  and  hear,  and  in  due  time  will  come 
to  relieve  and  reward?  Abraham  waited  and  was 
rewarded,  and  this  ought  to  confirm  the  promises 
of  God  unto  us.  If  he,  in  the  very  beginning 
of  the  world's  history,  could  trust  God  even  to 
the  restoring  of  life  to  the  dead,  how  easy  it  ought 
to  be  for  us  modern  Christians  to  rest  upon  the 
divine  Word,  and  the  unchangeableness  of  the 
divine  character.     Here  cast  anchor  and  wait. 

This  hope  is  for  a  specific  purpose  and  end,  it 
is  for  the  soul,  the  spiritual  nature  of  man.  The 
soul  hereby  becomes  allied  to  God,  and  has  the 
security  of  the  immutable,  the  eternal.  This  hope, 
holding  the  life  of  the  believer  is  as  secure  as  God 
himself.  It  is  as  secure  as  Christ's  own  'life. 
St.  Paul  gives  this  security  in  the  words,  "Ye  are 
dead,  and  your  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God." 
David  could  sing  of  this  security  in  the  words,  ''As 
the  mountains  are  round  about  Jerusalem,  so  the 
Lord  is  round  about  his  people  from  henceforth 
even  forever." 

With  God  as  the  depository  and  Christ  as  the 
depositary,  who  or  what  can  harm  the  trusting,  be- 
lieving soul?     Temporal  things  may  be  changeful 

63 


The  Exalted  Life 

— property,  friends,  health,  and  even  life  itself — 
may  drift  away,  and  no  earthly  power  be  able  to 
stay  them;  but  not  so  with  the  souFs  values; 
Christ  holds  them.  He  is  able  to  keep  that  which 
we  have  committed  unto  him  until  the  final  day. 

But  will  this  hope  make  its  possessor  immune  to 
temptation,  to  trials,  to  awful  conflicts,  and  varied 
experiences  on  the  voyage?  Surely  not.  God's 
people  are  tested  people,  like  reliable  anchors.  No 
anchor  is  trustworthy  until  put  to  the  test  by  gov- 
ernmental methods  and  verified  by  a  governmental 
seal.  This  of  necessity  is  very  important  and  ser- 
ious work.  Here  vast  treasures  as  well  as  human 
life  are  at  stake.  One  wants  to  know,  before  he 
commits  such  values  to  this  instrument,  that  it  will 
not  fail  in  the  very  time  of  need. 

So  with  the  Christian.  What  is  the  value  of  an 
untried,  untested  hope?  Every  hope  ought  to  be 
submitted  to  proper  tests  for  approval.  These  tests 
ought  to  be  invited  instead  of  resisted  and  rejected. 
"Beloved,  think  it  not  strange  concerning  the  fiery 
trial  which  is  to  try  you,  as  though  some  strange 
thing  happened  unto  you  ?"  It  should  not  be  thought 
of  as  being  strange,  nor  as  a  casualty,  but  as  a  part 
of  that  discipline  to  which  God,  our  Father,  sub- 
jects  his   children. 

"My  son,  despise  not  thou  the  chastening  of  the 
Lord,  nor  faint  when  thou  are  rebuked  of  him;  for 
whom  the  Lord  loveth  he  chasteneth,  and  scourgeth 
every  son  whom  he  receiveth."   (Hebrews  13  :  S-IL) 

Not  only  will  God's  children  share  in  common 
with  the  world's  people  in  the  ills  that  belong  to 
earthly  life,  but  they  will  often  suffer  in  ways  and 

64 


The  Hope  that  Stimulates  Action 

to  an  extent  that  the  ungodly  know  nothing  about. 
This  became  a  trial  to  David.  He  said :  "My  feet 
were  almost  gone ;  my  steps  had  well  nigh  slipped. 
For  I  was  envious  at  the  foolish,  when  I  saw  the 
prosperity  of  the  wicked."  He  says,  "They  are  not 
in  trouble  as  other  men" ;  they  are  not  "plagued 
like  other  men ;  their  eyes  stand  out  with  fatness  ; 
they  have  more  than  heart  could  wish."  Then  he 
adds :  "Verily  I  have  cleansed  my  heart  in  vain,  and 
washed  my  hands  in  innocency.  For  all  the  day 
long  have  I  been  plagued,  and  chastened  every 
morning."  This  view  of  things  often  becomes  a 
trial  to  some  of  God's  children,  and  like  David, 
"too  painful"  for  them;  but  when  they,  like  he  did, 
go  into  the  sanctuary,  then  another  and  a  different 
vision  comes  to  them.  He  said,  "I  went  into  the 
sanctuary  of  God;  then  understood  I  their  end. 
Surely  thou  didst  set  them  in  slippery  places :  thou 
castedst  them  down  into  destruction." 

In  another  place  David  gives  his  observation : 
'T  have  seen  the  wicked  in  great  power,  and  spread- 
ing himself  like  a  green  bay  tree.  Yet  he  passed 
away,  lo,  he  was  not ;  yea,  I  sought  him,  but  he  could 
not  be  found." 

How  like  a  ship  without  an  anchor,  or  an  un- 
reliable anchor,  when  on  the  sea  in  a  raging  storm. 
One  moment  it  is  in  view  and  might  be  sup- 
posed safe  for  a  time,  but  in  another  moment  its 
bow  is  plunging  beneath  a  mountain-billow  and  it 
disappears   forever  from  view. 

The  ship  that  is  securely  anchored,  while  safe, 
may  experience  buffetings,  heavings,  and  tossings, 
that  a  drifting  ship,  one  that  goes   with  the  tide, 

65 


The  Exalted  Life 

does  not  know.  The  one  seems  to  drift  softly  and 
easily  on  the  surface,  and  is  more  comfortable  and 
enjoyable  than  the  anchored  one;  but  when  the 
projecting  rocks  or  the  reefy  shore  is  reached,  and 
the  awful  crash  comes,  the  smoothness,  softness,  and 
easy-going,  are  at  an  end.  It  was  so  with  the 
Titanic. 

So  sin  has  its  pleasures,  and  for  the  time  being 
may  be  sweet  to  the  taste,  but  this  is  only  for  a 
season,  and  when  past  is  bitter  as  wormwood  and 
gall.  The  contrast:  "The  wicked  shall  be  driven 
away  in  his  iniquity ;  but  the  righteous  hath  hope  in 
his  death."  *'The  wages  of  sin  is  death;  but  the  gift 
of  God  is  eternal  life." 

An  anchored  ship  is  always  headed  in  the  right 
direction  for  safety.  No  difference  which  way  the 
wind  blows,  or  how  often  it  may  shift  in  a  given 
time,  it  will  always  face  the  storm  and  the  on- 
rushing  billows.  She  can  only  do  this  by  the  aid 
of  the  anchor.  Unanchored,  the  ship  cannot  face 
the  foe,  but  is  at  the  fury  of  the  winds  and  the 
waves. 

This  is  exactly  the  way  it  is  in  the  Christian  life. 
Those  whose  hopes  are  anchored  in  Jesus  as  the 
Rock  will  always  be  headed  in  the  right  direction 
for  their  eternal  safety.  The  severer  the  storm  and 
the  fiercer  the  battle,  the  braver  they  are  and  the 
firmer  they  stand.  "We  are  saved  by  hope" — 
saved  not  only  eternally,  but  saved  here  and  now 
in  the  hour  of  temptation.  This  hope  is  described 
as  being  "both  sure  and  steadfast."  "Sure,"  because 
it  does  not  break.  It  comes  from  a  new,  a  restored 
life,  and  hence  is  called  a  "lively   (living)   hope," 

66 


The  Hope  that  Stimulates  Action 

and  relates  the  believer  "to  an  inheritance  incor- 
ruptible, and  undefiled,  and  that  fadeth  not  away, 
reserved  in  heaven  for  those  who  through  faith 
are  kept  by  the  power  of  God  unto  final  salvation." 
It  is  "steadfast"  because  it  fastens  the  believer  to  the 
Rock  of  Ages,  "that  cannot  be  removed,  but  abideth 
forever."  But  while  sure  and  steadfast  the  life  is 
the  more  active  because  of  this.  The  Christ  is  a 
risen,  a  living  Christ,  and  the  hope  is  quickened, 
a  living  hope,  and  so  must  influence  action  to  a 
marvelous  degree. 

No  life  allied  to  Christ  can  be  inactive  in  the 
things  pertaining  to  his  kingdom.  This  divine  force 
in  its  action  (not  character)  is  like  leaven  in  the 
meal,  it  goes  through  and  transforms  the  meal  from 
inertness  to  life.  So  the  believer  becomes  more  and 
more  like  the  life  he  is  identified  with.  Faith 
bridging  over  the  chasm  between  hope  and  the 
things  hoped  for,  makes  unseen  things  seem  very 
realistic  to  the  believer.  It  is  seeing  the  invisible. 
St.  John  makes  this  very  forcible  in  its  application 
when  he  says,  "And  every  one  that  hath  this  hope 
in  him  purifieth  himself,  even  as  he  is  pure."  Here 
is  an  u;irealized  ideal  and  the  effort  to  reach  it. 
(I.  John  3:  1-3.) 


67 


CHAPTER  VI. 
The  Glorious  Outlook  that  Hope  Gives. 

While  hope  is  anticipative  and  must  wait  for  full 
realization,  faith  comes  in  as  a  cable  to  bind  the 
believer  to  the  spiritually  real,  thereby  enabling 
him  to  hold  fellowship  with  God — to  "practice  the 
presence"  of  Christ — and  thus  to  know  the  fullness 
of  joy  and  peace  that  flows"  from  the  vision  that 
faith  gives  of  him. 

Faith  has  a  wonderful  power  of  vision.  It  en- 
abled Abraham  to  look  through  the  mist  of  two 
thousand  years  and  see  Christ's  day.  "Abraham 
rejoiced  to  see  my  day;  and  he  saw  it,  and  was 
glad."  The  heroes  of  faith  in  the  eleventh  chapter 
of  Hebrews,  "died  in  faith,  not  having  received 
the  promises,  but  they  saw  them  afar  off,  and 
were  persuaded  of  them,  and  embraced  them." 

Here  faith  brought  conviction  to  that  degree  of 
certainty  that  they  are  said  to  have  embraced 
the  promises.  Faith  so  substantiated  the  promises 
to  these  pilgrims  that  they  became  as  real  to  them 
as  a  check  on  the  most  reliable  bank  in  the  hands 
of  a  business  man. 

What  a  vast  amount  of  business  is  done  in  the 
commercial  world  by  the  use  of  checks.  A  genuine 
check  on  a  reliable  bank,  in  the  hand  of  a  well  veri- 
fied bearer,  is  good  in  any  part  of  the  business 
world.  Distance  cannot  annul  it;  oceans  cannot 
obstruct  it.  The  mails  will  carry  it  over  land  and 
sea;    even   electricity   becomes    its    messenger   and 

68 


The  Glorious  Outlook  that  Hope  Gives 

serves  its  purpose,  flashing  the  message  that  brings 
financial  aid  in  the  crisis  hour.  All  this  is  clone  on 
the  line  of  trust,  on  the  line  of  business  integrity. 
What  a  blessing  to  the  business  world ! 

Let  this  mutual  faith,  this  common  trust  be 
broken,  and  universal  wreckage  ensues.  Our  own 
country  has  experienced  at  different  times  in  its 
history,  in  a  slight  degree,  the  embarrassment  re- 
sulting from  such  a  break.  All  the  peace  and 
prosperity  of  this  country  rests  on  the  stability 
and  the  integrity  of  our  Government.  Enterprises, 
individual  and  corporate,  are  entered  into  covering 
long  periods  of  time  for  their  consummation,  all  on 
the  faith  exercised  in  the  ability  and  integrity  of 
our  institutions. 

Now  if  the  people  of  the  world,  and  even  Chris- 
tian people  can  draw  so  largely  on  their  faith  in 
temporal  things,  in  earthly  powers,  and  be  kept 
in  such  peace  and  assurance  in  matters  future  and 
unattained,  what  ought  to  be  said  of  the  power  of 
the  Christian's  faith  in  the  unseen  and  unrealized 
verities  of  the  kingdom  of  God?  Has  not  God 
given  guarantees  enough  to  settle  all  questions  of 
doubt?  Has  he  not  kept  all  his  covenants  with  his 
Church?  Has  he  not  verified  all  his  promises  to 
the  believer?  Let  the  history  of  the  ages  answer; 
search  the  Scriptures  and  see,  for  they  testify  of 
him.  He  has  not  only  given  these  promises,  which 
are  yea  and  amen  in  Christ  Jesus,  but  he  has 
given  an  earnest,  a  surety  by  giving  us  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  our  hearts  as  a  pledge  of  future  blessings." 
(H.  Corinthians  1:22;  5:5;  also  Ephesians  1:13, 
14.) 

69 


The  Exalted  Life 

Here  the  Holy  Spirit  is  the  seal  of  a  finished 
work,  of  true  ownership,  and  of  security  of  pos- 
session. This  makes  the  grieving  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  offensive  to  God  and  most  perilous  to 
the  believer.  ''Grieve  not  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God, 
whereby  ye  are  sealed  unto  the  day  of  redemption." 
(Ephesians  4:  30.) 

This  assurance  through  the  Word  and  the  inner 
consciousness  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  is  one  of  the 
greatest  sources  of  joy  to  the  believer,  and  one  of 
the  strongest  agencies  that  he  has  with  which  to 
fight  the  agencies  of  evil,  the  powers  of  darkness. 
How  strong  and  assuring  the  words  of  Isaiah, 
"And  the  work  of  righteousness  shall  be  peace ;  and 
the  effect  of  righteousness,  quietness  and  assurance 
forever."  (Isaiah  32:17).  Jude  says  that  God's 
people  are  ''preserved  in  Jesus  Christ."  (Verse  1.) 
What  a  protection,  what  a  security,  is  here  guaran- 
teed to  the  believer !  He  is  here  and  now  in 
possession  of  a  salvation — though  not  as  yet  fully 
consummated — in  which,  through  faith  in  the 
finished  work  of  Christ,  he  will  be  eternally  kept. 

But  in  order  to  be  thus  kept,  safe-guarded  from 
evil,  there  must  be  the  continued  exercise  of  faith. 
Faith  is  not  an  act  once  done  and  ended  forever. 
It  has  its  beginning,  but  it  ought  to  have  no  ending 
in  the  probationary  life.  Jesus  expressed  this  con- 
tinuity of  relationship  by  the  word  "abide."  This 
cannot  be  except  by  the  maintenance  of  a  constant 
living  faith.  It  must  also  be  a  life  of  freedom  from 
known  sinning,  a  life  given  to  no  interests  into 
which  Christ  cannot  be  brought,  and  living  no  life 
in  which  he  cannot  share.     There  must  be  no  ex- 

70 


The  Glorious  Outlook  that  Hope  Gives 

elusion  of  Christ  from  his  own  possession,  his  own 
temple.  It  is  to  those  that  receive  him  to  whom  he 
makes  known  the  mysteries  of  his  kingdom.  These 
mysteries  are  ever  unfolding  to  the  Spirit-guided 
and  Spirit-visioned. 

The  deeper  things  of  God's  kingdom  are  often 
revealed  by  what  may  be  called  "crises" ;  but  al- 
ways on  an  ascending  scale.  The  horror  of  dark- 
ness fell  upon  Abraham  before  the  lamp  of  the 
Lord  appeared.  Isaiah  had  his  wonderful  vision  in 
the  temple,  smiting  him  with  conviction  for  his 
uncleanness,  before  the  cleansing  fire  was  applied 
by  the  angelic  messenger.  Jeremiah  pleaded  that  he 
was  but  a  child  and  that  he  could  not  speak,  until 
the  Lord's  hand  touched  his  mouth.  He  said,  "the 
word  was  in  mine  heart  as  a  burning  fire  shut 
up  in  my  bones,  and  I  was  weary  with  forbearing, 
and  I  could  not  stay." 

When  Daniel  heard  the  "voice  between  the  banks 
of  Ulai,"  and  was  made  familiar  with  the  vision 
that  he  had  in  Shushan,  he  said,  "And  I,  Daniel 
fainted  and  was  sick  certain  days ;  afterwards  I 
rose  up,  and  did  the  king's  business."  At  a  later 
time,  when  standing  on  the  bank  of  the  river 
Hiddekel,  he  had  such  a  vision  of  the  divine  glory 
that  he  said  there  remained  no  strength  in  me;  for 
my  comeliness  was  turned  into  corruption,  and  I 
retained  no  strength."  Here  was  "a  man  greatly 
beloved,"  the  purest  and  noblest  of  his  day,  that  had 
all  his  goodness  turned  into  corruption  when  a 
new  fresh  glory  of  the  Lord  came  to  him. 

So  John,  the  beloved  disciple,  when  he  had  the 
wonderful  vision  of   the   glorified  Christ,   "fell   at 

71 


The  Exalted  Life 

his  feet  as  dead" ;  Paul  said  of  himself  that  he  had 
not  yet  apprehended  all  that  God  had  for  him  in 
Christ  Jesus,  but  that  he  was  pressing  "on  to  the 
goal,  to  gain  the  prize  of  that  heavenward  call 
which  God  gave  him  through  Christ  Jesus." 

New  visions  of  Christ  and  his  saving  power  set 
new  goals  for  faith  and  hope.  Otherwise  we  would 
come  to  a  deadlevel,  a  deadlock,  in  the  soul's 
progress.  Christ  is  ever  revealing  and  multiplying 
himself  in  and  through  his  people.  As  they  be- 
hold his  glory  they  are  "changed  into  the  same 
image  from  glory  to  glory,  even  as  by  the  Spirit 
of  the  Lord."  Christ  here  becomes  more  and  more 
a  present  living  reality,  transforming  the  whole 
character  into  resemblance  to  himself.  Here  God's 
promises  are  substantiated,  and  things  future  and 
unseen  become  real,  "the  substance  of  things  hoped 
for."  Later  this  hope  will  be  changed  to  sight,  then 
shall  we  have  done  with  the  imperfect.  "For  now 
we  see  through  a  glass,  [in  a  mirror]  darkly;  but 
then  face  to  face:  now  I  know  in  part;  but  then 
shall  I  know  even  as  also  I  am  known."  Now  is 
dimness,  incompleteness,  then,  clearness,  perfect- 
ness.  Toward  that  goal  hope  must  ever  be  headed 
and  pressing,  and  like  a  trained  athlete  run  with 
patience  the  race  set  before  it.  This  principle  char- 
acterized Jesus  himself,  the  forerunner  of  our  faith, 
''\\^ho,  for  the  glory  that  was  set  before  him,  en- 
dured the  cross,  despising  the  shame."  (Hebrews 
12:2.) 

Here  Jesus  becomes  our  example,  and,  as  runners, 
we  must  keep  our  eyes  ever  on  him.  Not  furtive 
glances,  but  as  a  fixed  habit  of  life.     This  looking 

72 


The  Glorious  Outlook  that  Hope  Gives 

is  essential  to  right  running.  In  all  things  essen- 
tial to  our  salvation  Jesus  went  before  us,  and  our 
looking  to  him  ought  to  mean  the  strength  of 
his  abiding  presence  with  us.  We  may  often  ask 
about  departed  friends,  as  to  whether  they  are 
near  us  and  whether  they  know  what  we  are  doing. 
Here  we  get  no  answer.  Not  so  concerning  Jesus, 
for  he  is  ever  with  us.  "Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway, 
even  unto  the  end  of  the  age."  ''I  will  never  leave 
thee  nor  forsake  thee."  "As  thy  day,  so  shall  thy 
strength  be." 

For  the  "joy  set  before  him"  Jesus  endured  the 
cross  with  its  shame.  He  was  confident  of  final 
victory  and  a  joyful  destiny.  He  occupied  his 
time  and  his  heart  with  the  things  the  Father  had 
set  before  him  to  do,  and  so  never  became  en- 
tangled with  the  things  of  time  and  sense.  He  al- 
ways had  respect  for,  and  loyalty  to  the  divine 
will.    It  was  his  meat  and  his  drink  to  do  it. 

All  God's  children  are  strangers  and  pilgrims  on 
the  earth.  It  is  this  heavenly  hope  that  makes  them 
aliens  here;  and  how  can  it  be  otherwise,  when 
they  are  born  from  above,  and  have  their  citizen- 
ship in  heaven?  How  can  earthly  things  find  as- 
cendant control  in  a  spiritual  mind  and  a  heart 
homed  with  Christ  in  God?  How  can  low,  trifling, 
and  foolish  things  enter  and  possess  a  soul  that  has 
its  affections  set  on  things  above,  having  risen  with 
Christ  from  the  dead?  It  is  only  when  hope  has 
lost  its  power  that  this  can  ever  be. 

In  view  of  the  exalted  character  of  this  life 
here,  and  its  glorious  consummation  in  the  world 
to  come — all  of  which  is  now  held  in  hope — Paul 

73 


The  Exalted  Life 

delivers  his  charge  to  Christians,  beseeching  them 
by  the  mercies  of  God,  that  they  present  their 
bodies  a  living  sacrifice,  holy  acceptable  to  God. 
This  sweeping  consecration  is  urged  and  empha- 
sized on  the  ground  of  these  bodies  being  destined 
to  final  conformity  to  the  image  of  Jesus,  and  hence 
should  undergo  a  certain  transformation  here.  If 
such  a  glorious  destiny  awaits  these  bodies  of  ours 
in  the  resurrection  state,  there  ought  to  be  a 
break,  a  separation  in  their  affinity  with,  and  their 
allegiance  to  the  things  of  the  world.  Paul  would 
say,  Do  not  have  your  fashioning  after  this  world, 
but,  as  sons  of  God,  have  your  fashioning  above  and 
beyond  this  world.  You  are  now  to  die  to  this 
world,  be  separated  from  it,  so  put  your  bodies,  all 
that  belongs  to  them  on  the  altar  of  separation,  and 
henceforth  live  in  conformity  to  that  life  of  which 
God's  will  is  the  good  and  perfect  rule.  This  done, 
then  the  works  of  Galatians  5::  19-21,  will  cease, 
and  the  fruits  of  Galatians  5 :  22-24,  will  begin. 
Nothing  but  crucifixion  will  bring  this  wonderful 
change.  The  designation  between  the  two  is  most 
striking,  and  ought  to  be  appealing  and  instructive 
to  all — the  one  repelling,  the  other  inviting,  the  one 
has  its  works,  the  other  his  fruits,  the  one  all  bad, 
the  other  all  good.  Who  would  not  like  to  have 
these  fruits  growing  and  abounding  in  his  life? 
"Love,  joy,  peace,"  as  the  inner  condition;  "long- 
suffering,  gentleness,  goodness,"  as  the  outward 
condition,  manward;  faith,  meekness,  temperance, 
the  condition  Godward.  What  a  beautiful,  sym- 
metrical, Christ-like  life  these  nine  graces  repre- 
sent, and  how  far  they  put  their  possessor  on  the 

74 


The  Glorious  Outlook  that  Hope  Gives 

road  to  the  life  that  may  well  be  called  the  heavenly 
life.  It  is  this  transfiguration  into  Christ's  image 
that  constitutes  the  goal  of  earthly  attainment,  so 
forcibly  stated  by  Paul  when  he  says,  "I  live ;  yet 
not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me" ;  and  again,  "For  me 
to  live  is  Christ." 

Can  there  be  a  hope  more  inspiring  as  an  incen- 
tive, and  higher  in  its  aim  than  this  transmutation 
of  the  human  nature  into  the  divine?  Paul  gives 
this  incentive  in  II.  Corinthians  7:1,  where  he  says, 
"Having  therefore  these  promises,  dearly  beloved, 
let  us  cleanse  ourselves  from  all  filthiness  of  the 
flesh  and  spirit,  perfecting  holiness  in  the  fear  of 
God." 

"These  promises,"  as  used  here,  may  relate  to 
the  whole  realm  of  future,  heavenly  blessedness, 
and  so  could  not  have  any  other  influence  on  the 
present,  earthly  life  than  its  purification.  Can  a 
living,  active,  assuring  hope  of  being  raised  from 
the  dead  in  Christ's  likeness,  of  being  presented  to 
him  in  glory,  of  being  forever  at  home  with  him  in 
heaven,  of  belonging  to  the  family  of  God,  and  of 
meeting  all  the  deeds  done  in  the  body  at  the  judg- 
ment seat  of  Christ,  be  other  than  quickening  and 
sanctifying  in  its  effect?  How  earthly  passions, 
unholy  ambitions,  and  all  sinful  tendencies  wither 
and  die  in  the  heart  where  this  hope  lives !  They 
cannot  live  together  and  blend  any  more  than  oil 
and  water,  or  fire  and  water.  They  are  alien  and 
destructive. 

Such  a  hope  must  have  harmony  and  consistency 
with  what  it  binds  and  leads  its  possessor  to.  Paul 
calls  it  "the  hope  which  is  laid  up  in  heaven,"  and 

75 


The  Exalted  Life 

the  consequent  influence  on  the  heart  and  life  of 
the  behever  must  be  of  a  heavenly  character.  It 
must  pull  toward  its  source  and  origin,  and  in 
influence  be  like  the  world  from  which  it  comes  and 
to  which  it  leads. 

The  transforming  power  of  this  hope  is  seen  in 
Paul's  letter  to  the  Colossians  where  he  tells  them 
that  they  died  in  Christ,  that  their  life  is  hidden 
with  him,  and  that  when  he  appears,  they  will  ap- 
pear with  him  in  glory.  "Therefore,"  he  says,  ''mor- 
tify," put  to  death,  "all  that  is  earthly  in  you." 

Here  is  an  efifort  to  conform,  as  far  as  possible, 
the  present  earthly  life  to  that  that  shall  be  revealed 
when  Christ,  who  is  our  life  appears  on  earth 
again.  It  is  an  effort  to  be  now  and  here  like  that 
completed  life. 

Now,  whatever  the  achievements  of  the  past 
may  have  been,  there  is  ever  a  goal  ahead  leading 
on  to  greater  triumphs  in  the  line  of  our  heavenly 
calling.  The  goal  that  is  reached  to-day  is  not  the 
end  of  hope,  if  the  life  is  an  aggressive  one,  but 
rather  the  beginning  of  a  broader  and  brighter  hope. 
Life  is  not  yet  finished,  but  terribly  unfinished. 
Completeness  embraces  both  quality  and  quan- 
tity. The  quality  must  have  the  closest  attention 
and  the  most  persistent  effort.  The  gold  must  be 
refined  and  made  free  from  dross.  Life  may  be 
long  or  it  may  be  short,  it  may  have  large  or  small 
accomplishments;  but  in  either  case  it  must  be  of 
the  right  material,  of  the  right  character.  Such  a 
life  can  be  given  back  to  God  who  gave  it  at  any 
time  as  a  finished  life — qualitatively  complete. 

76 


The  Glorious  Outlook  tliat  Hope  Gives 

Jesus  gave  his  life  back  to  his  Father  at  thirty- 
three  years,  saying  as  he  did  it,  "I  have  glorified 
thee  on  the  earth ;  I  have  finished  the  work  which 
thou  gavest  me  to  do."  The  last  words  that  Jesus 
uttered  on  the  cross  were,  "It  is  finished." 

What  a  sweet  and  blessed  way  to  die !  Work  all 
done,  and  done  as  given  and  now  nothing  to  do  but 
depart.  It  may  be  that  the  accomplishment  did 
not  measure  up  to  the  end  desired;  but  if  it  has 
been  the  work  given,  and  if  the  v/orkman  can  say, 
I  have  done  my  best,  it  will  be  met  with,  "Well 
done,  thou  good  and  faithful  servant." 

But  to  reach  a  goal  there  must  be  the  most  per- 
sistent climbing.  The  outlook  will  be  broadened 
with  every  league  upward.  Away  and  beyond  life's 
open  threshold  stretches  the  rising  uplands,  the  as- 
cending foothills,  and  the  towering  mountains. 
Life's  outlook  is  often  too  narrow  and  circum- 
scribed, its  energies  wasted  on  trifles,  and  satisfac- 
tion found  with  things  too  common,  earthly,  and 
sensual.  This  restricted  vision  is  often  the  source 
of  much  trouble  in  religious  faith  and  practice.  It 
can  easily  make  cranks  and  fanatics,  narrow  creeds 
and  sectarian  bigots.  The  higher  we  ascend,  the 
broader  our  horizon,  the  clearer  the  vision,  and  the 
deeper  and  the  diviner  the  life. 

How  glorious  to  stand  on  some  Mt.  Nebo  or 
Pisgah  height  and  survey  the  promised  inheritance ! 
Who  can  have  such  visions  without  wishing  to 
advance?  Life  moves  in  the  direction  of  its  ten- 
dencies, and  if  these  are  noble  then  in  a  graded 
ascent.  There  is  no  place  on  a  mountain  road  for 
a  traveler  to  stop,  no  permanent  inn  at  the  half- 

77 


The  Exalted  Life 

way  place.  He  must  either  go  on  up  to  the  summit, 
or  retrograde  to  the  starting  place. 

As  previously  stated,  one  hope  realized  becomes 
the  starting  point  for  another  of  larger  and  greater 
promise.  From  every  ascending  point  of  view 
reached,  there  comes  a  vision  of  a  new  ascent, 
whose  top,  in  'turn,  is  but  the  starting  point  for 
another  advance,  and  so  on  indefinitely ;  one  ad- 
vance shading  into  or  losing  itself  in  another. 

This  makes  life  ever  cumulative,  ever  carrying 
what  we  are  or  what  we  are  ever  becoming.  The 
work  is  ever  continuous.  First  the  blade,  then  the 
ear,  after  that  the  full  corn  in  the  ear;  but  the  full 
corn  was  in  the  blade,  as  the  blade  is  in  the  full 
corn.  This  is  the  way  of  nature;  so  the  way  of 
grace. 

So  it  is  in  human  life  and  experience.  All  our 
yesterdays  are  our  to-days.  We  carry  what  we 
have  been,  what  we  have  done,  and  what  we  have 
learned,  with  us ;  and  all  that  we  may  use  in  all 
the  higher  stages  of  life  what  we  acquired  in  the 
lower. 

To  gather  material  and  have  large  accumulations, 
in  a  material  way  and  in  an  intellectual  sense,  is  not 
enough.  This  material  must  be  put  to  good  account; 
something  must  be  built  out  of  it.  Not  only  must 
we  get  ready  to  do  something,  but  we  must  do  it. 
Otherwise  we  can  never  be  a  constructive  force  in 
the  kingdom  of  God. 

This  was  the  trouble  with  the  man  that  had  but 
one  talent.  It  v/as  good  and  valuable,  but  he  did  not 
use  it.     It  was  taken  from  him  and  given  to  the 

78 


The  Glorious  Outlook  that  Hope  Gives 

one  with  ten  talents,  to  the  one  that  had  used  what 
was  given  to  him. 

There  is  a  place  in  the  kingdom  of  God  where 
every  man  may  work  out  the  good  that  is  in  him. 
The  power  of  every  man  is  in  the  right  use  of  what 
he  is  in  himself,  and  of  what  has  been  committed 
to  him,  whether  little  or  much.  The  real  value 
of  every  man  is  the  use  he  makes  of  himself  and 
of  what  he  has,  in  the  interest  of  humanity  and 
in  the  extension  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom. 

Here  we  may  rightly  estimate  values,  and  the 
first  thing  to  consider  on  this  line  is  one's  own  life- 
value.  Life  is  not  simply  a  means  to  an  end. 
Every  life  has  a  goal  and  an  end  in  itself,  but 
which  does  not  end  with  itself.  Because  Csssar  lived 
the  Roman  Empire  swept  through  centuries  of 
history.  Because  Jesus  was  born,  lived,  was  cruci- 
fied, and  rose  from  the  dead,  millions  live  the 
life  eternal.  Martin  Luther  was  born  and  pro- 
claimed justification  by  faith,  and  the  reformation 
of  Protestantism  broke  the  slumber  of  the  middle 
ages.  George  Fox  was  born,  and  the  Friends' 
Church  blesses  the  world.  John  Wesley  was  born, 
and  Methodism  belts  the  world  with  a  girdle  of 
light.  Philip  William  Otterbein  was  born,  and 
United  Brethrenism  crossed  the  American  Conti- 
nent, and  has  entered  some  of  the  darkest  lands 
beyond  the  seas. 

Here  we  have  the  value  of  a  life  illustrated, 
not  only  in  itself  and  for  itself,  but  also  in  its 
relation  to  total  humanity,  and  thus  to  the  progress 
of  the  world.  In  this  respect  who  can  tell  the 
value  of  great  leaders  in  church  and  state?     The 

79 


The  Exalted  Life 

value  of  the  patriarchs,  the  prophets,  the  apostles, 
the  fathers,  the  reformers,  and  modern  leaders  in 
science,  literature,  art,  and  civil  and  religious  lib- 
erty, who  can  tell  ? 

The  call  of  Jesus  to-day,  as  in  the  days  of  his 
flesh  is,  "Follow  me."  Christ's  claims  are  para- 
mount, and  obedience  must  be  instant  and  absolute. 
"There  must  be  no  bribing  of  conscience  with  ex- 
cuses." The  price  of  this  divine  companionship 
must  be  paid,  and  paid  at  once.  Waiting  to  bury 
the  dead ;  departing  to  say  good-by  to  friends ;  and 
a  backward,  diverting  look  may  find  Jesus  gone. 
What  a  loss,  both  for  time  and  eternity! 

What  a  glorious  future  awaits  the  Christian 
believer !  The  ancients  died  "not  receiving  the 
promises."  The  Christian  has  Christ  as  his  life 
now  and  here,  and  then  all  the  unseen  thnigs  of 
which  the  Bible  speaks,  faith  gives  him  the  sub- 
stance of  them,  so  that  life  is  framed  and  lived 
on  the  certainty  of  their  reality.  "Faith  is  the 
substance  of  things  hoped  for." 


80 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Where  Hope  and  Faith  Have  Their 
True  Center. 

Christ  is  the  condensation  of  all  the  divine  per- 
fections. "For  in  him  dwelleth  all  the  fulness  of 
the  Godhead  bodily."  "For  it  pleased  the  Father 
that  in  him  should  all  fulness  dwell."  These  Scrip- 
tures are  bewildering  to  our  human  senses.  That  all 
the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  was  pleased  to  dwell 
in  a  human  form  in  the  person  of  Christ,  is  cer- 
tainly the  mystery  of  all  mysteries.  "Great  is  the 
mystery  of  godliness ;  God  was  manifest  in  the 
flesh."  Despite  all  that  has  been  said  and  written  on 
this  subject  of  the  divine  incarnation,  it  still  remains 
a  mystery,  and  will  doubtless  remain  a  mystery 
through  all  eternity.  The  angels  have  been  desir- 
ous to  understand  it,  "to  look  into  it,"  but  have  not 
been  able.  Much  has  been  revealed,  more  than  we 
are  able  to  comprehend,  but  supernatural  elements 
still  remain  despite  it  all.  This  the  puzzle  and 
bane   of   Unitarianism. 

In  view  of  the  twofold  relationship  that  Jesus 
holds,  that  of  God  and  man,  is  it  any  wonder  that 
the  Scriptures  attach  the  importance  they  do  to 
the  study  of  his  life  and  character,  and  to  faith  in 
his  death  and  resurrection,  as  important  and  es- 
sential elements  in  the  work  of  personal  salva- 
tion? He  is,  or  should  be  the  supreme  object 
of  study  upon  the  part  of  his  Church.  The  voice 
of  prophecy  was  largely  to  call  attention  to  him 

81 


The  Exalted  Life 

as  the  coming  Messiah.  Spirit-led  and  Spirit- 
guided  ones  at  the  time  of  his  birth  wisely  discerned 
the  signs  that  betokened  his  arrival,  and  at  once 
sought  him  out.  The  ministry  of  John  the  Baptist 
was  for  the  purpose  of  preparing  the  way  for 
him,  and  to  make  him  known  to  the  people.  The 
press  and  the  cry  of  the  multitudes  during  the 
period  of  his  earthly  ministry  were,  "We  would  see 
Jesus."  The  manner  of  his  death  was  significant 
on  this  line,  being  lifted  up  by  and  on  the  cross. 
This  put  him  into  prominent  view,  as  he  himself  had 
previously  said — "And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the 
earth,  will  draw  all  men  unto  me."  Before  he  left 
this  world  he  arranged  for  the  preaching  of  the 
gospel  of  the  kingdom  in  all  the  world  for  a  witness 
unto  all  people. 

Then  he  declared  himself  to  be  "the  light  of 
the  world,"  and  addressing  the  multitude  he  said, 
"While  you  still  have  the  light,  believe  in  the 
light,  that  you  may  be  sons  of  the  light." 

These  Scriptures,  with  many  others  that  might 
be  given,  put  Jesus  into  view  as  the  one  and  only 
object  of  faith  and  hope  for  a  lost  world.  Peter, 
speaking  of  Jesus  in  his  address  to  the  Sanhedrin 
after  Pentecost  said,  "Neither  is  there  salvation  in 
any  other :  for  there  is  none  other  name  under 
heaven  given  among  men,  whereby  we  must  be 
saved."  It  was  in  this  name  that  the  lame  man 
was  no  longer  lame.  Since  that  day  millions  have 
been  healed  and  saved,  and  each,  with  David,  can 
sing,  "O  magnify  the  Lord  with  me,  and  let  us 
exalt  his  name  together."  Why  this  song  of  tri- 
umph?   Let  another  part  of  the  song  answer:  "His 

82 


Where  Hope  and  Faith  Have  Then'  True  Center 

name  vShall  endure  forever;  his  name  shall  be  con- 
tinued as  long  as  the  sun ;  and  men  shall  be  blessed 
in  him ;  all  nations  shall  call  him  blessed ;  blessed 
be  his  glorious  name  forever;  and  let  the  whole 
earth  be  filled  with  his  glory.     Amen,  and  amen." 

How  like  the  glorious  magnificat  of  Mary,  the 
mother  of  Jesus,  (Luke  1:46-55)  and  the  song  of 
the  angelic  choir  in  the  gallery  of  the  firmament, 
''Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  and  on  earth  peace, 
good  will  toward  men."  How  like  Paul's  exalta- 
tion of  Jesus  after  his  resurrection  from  the  dead, 
describing  him  as  seated  at  his  Father's  right 
hand :  "In  the  heavenly  places,  far  above  all  prin- 
cipality, and  power,  and  might,  and  dominion,  and 
every  name  that  is  named,  not  only  in  this  world, 
but  also  in  that  which  is  to  come ;  and  hath  put  all 
things  under  his  feet,  and  gave  him  to  be  head  over 
all  tilings  to  the  church,  which  is  his  body,  the  ful- 
ness of  him  that  filleth  all  in  all."  (Ephesians  1 :  20- 
23.) 

What  a  gift  to  the  Church  when  Christ  was 
made  its  supreme  head,  and  what  a  glory  to  the 
Church  when  it  was  made  his  body !  How  vital 
and  glorious  this  relationship !  Can  any  relation- 
ship be  more  intimate  than  this?  What  is  there 
in  it  that  ought  to  bring  the  blush  of  shame  to  the 
cheek  of  a  member  of  this  body  except  a  feeling 
of  unworthiness  to  be  a  part  of  such  a  wonderful 
organism?  Surely  the  body  can  never  be  ashamed 
of  its  head,  the  saved  of  their  Savior. 

"Jesus,   and   shall   it  ever  be 
A   mortal  man   ashamed   of  thee? 
Ashamed  of  thee,  whom  angels  praise. 
Whose  glories  shine  through  endless  days? 

83 


The  Exalted  Life 

"Ashamed  of  Jesus!  sooner  far 
Let   evening  blush  to   own  a  star; 
He    sheds   the    beams   of   light    divine 
O'er    this    benighted    soul    of    mine. 

"Ashamed  of  Jesus!  that  dear  friend, 
On  whom  my  hopes  of  heaven  depend? 
No!  when   I  blush  be  this  my  shame, 
That  I  no  more  revere  his  name. 

"Ashamed  of  Jesus!     Yes,  I  may, 
When  I've  no  guilt  to  wash  away, 
No  tear  to  wipe,  no  good  to  crave, 
No  fear  to  quell,  no  spul  to  save." 

How  beautiful  this  poem,  and  how  forcibly  it  ex- 
presses the  feeling  of  every  living  member  of 
Christ's  body,  the  Church.  Every  member  of  this 
body  ought  to  glory  in  the  cross,  and  count  it  all 
joy  to  bear  it  after  him  who  first  endured  it  for 
them.  Paul  invoked  the  divine  interdiction  of  his 
glorying  in  anything  but  the  cross,  saying,  ''God 
forbid  that  I  should  glory,  save  in  the  cross  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  whom  the  world  is  crucified 
unto  me,  and  I  unto  the  world."     (Galatians  6:14.) 

While  the  cross  is  an  instrument  of  death,  it  is 
also  an  agent  of  life.  It  freed  Paul  from  the  power 
of  his  old  environment  and  put  him  into  a  new 
environment.  He  no  longer  responded  to  the  world ; 
he  v/as  dead  to  it.  His  response  was  to  the  things 
of  another  world  and  another  life.  The  cross  of 
Christ  did  it,  and  on  that  account  he  is  now  glorying 
in  it.  How  strange  this  seems  in  this  materialistic 
and  largely  sensuous  age.  The  great  battle  to-day  is 
between  conformity  to  the  world — this  modern, 
pleasure-loving,  sporting  world — and  loyalty  to  the 
meek  and  humble  life  of  the  Nazarene ;  but  can  he 
live  in  us,  imparting  his  life  to  us,  like  the  sap  in 

84 


Where  Hope  and  Faith  Have  Then'  Trne  Center 

the  vine  is  imparted  to  the  branches,  and  we  be 
different  from  what  Paul  was  in  our  glorying? 
Will  it  not  be  the  cross  with  us  as  it  was  with  him  ? 
Will  not  Christ  be  himself  in  us  as  he  was  himself  in 
Paul?  There  are  not  two  Christs,  but  one;  there 
are  not  two  crosses,  but  one.  These  are  change- 
less. The  world  may  change,  time  may  change, 
customs  may  change,  even  the  Church  may  change, 
but  Christ  never.  He  is  "the  same  yesterday,  and 
to-day,  and  forever." 

Here  is  stability  of  character,  something  that  can 
be  trusted  and  relied  on  through  all  the  ages.  His 
word  is  dependable,  his  promises  sure,  and  his  re- 
sources inexhaustible.  Disappointment  can  never 
come  to  an  intelligent,  well  founded,  divinely  in-" 
spired  hope. 

Jesus  through  the  cross  gives  humanity  a  new, 
fresh  start  on  the  way  to  eternal  life.  Man's  first 
start  was  in  the  fairest  and  brightest  Eden  that 
poets  could  picture  or  artists  paint ;  but  the  cross 
opens  up  a  way  to  a  life  that  baffles  and  puts  to 
shame  the  efforts  of  all  the  Miltons,  and  all  the 
Raphaels  to  even  adequately  hint  at  its  transcendent 
glories.  *'Eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  neither 
have  entered  into  the  heart  of  man,  the  things  which 
God  hath  prepared  for  them  that  love  him." 

This  life  is  preeminently  a  supernatural  life,  and 
only  Christ's  life  in  us  will  enable  us  to  live  it. 
With  him  as  our  strength  we  can  go  all  the  way 
that  he  maps  out  for  our  feet  to  tread  in.  'T  can 
do  all  things  through  Christ  which  strengtheneth 
me,"  was  Paul's  shout  of  victory.  Christ  always 
matches  his   requirements   with  his   own  promised 

85 


The  Exalted  Life 

strength.  He  never  requires  a  service  that  he 
does  not  give  the  strength  to  perform.  Hence 
Paul's  "all  things."  All  the  resources  of  the  Chris- 
tian life  are  found  in  Christ.  Then  why  be  dead? 
He  is  our  life.  Then  why  be  comfortless,  orphans? 
He  is  our  comforter.  Then  why  be  stranded  for 
want  of  power?  He  is  our  strength.  Jesus  is 
saying  to  us  as  he  did  to  his  disciples  of  old,  "All 
power  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  in  earth." 
This  world,  the  kingdom  of  grace,  and  the  Church, 
the  organized  body  of  Christ,  are  all  in  his  hands ; 
he  is  the  supreme  authority  during  this  Christian 
dispensation,  this  church-age.  Why,  then,  may  not 
Christians  lift  up  their  heads  and  face  their  work 
and  the  future  in  the  spirit  of  triumph?  He  is  our 
life;  we  live  with  his  life,  we  are  strong  with  his 
strength,  we  are  wise  with  his  wisdom,  we  are  to  be 
more  than  conquerors  through  him  that  loved  us. 
Paul,  in  Hebrews  12:2,  gives  Jesus  his  true  place 
in  the  life  of  faith,  and  the  believer  his  real  atti- 
tude in  relation  to  Jesus  as  his  leader  and  perfect 
example  in  faith.  He  makes  Jesus  the  originator, 
leader,  and  perfecter  of  faith,  and  then  fixes  the 
eyes  of  all  believers  on  him  as  their  pattern  and 
their  hope. 

In  the  preceding  chapter,  Paul  is  calling  the  mus- 
ter-roll of  the  Christian  ages,  the  heroes  of  faith, 
some  of  whom  he  calls  by  name.  He  first  gives 
the  only  and  best  definition  of  faith  found  in  the 
Scriptures,  the  true  sphere  of  faith,  and  then  in- 
dividual instances  of  its  triumph.  It  ought  often 
to  be  read  and  carefully  and  prayerfully  studied 
by  present-day  Christians. 

86 


Where  Hope  and  Faith  Have  Their  True  Center 

But  the  real  incentives  to  action  as  runners, 
wrestlers,  and  fighters  are  found  in  this  twelfth 
chapter.  Here  the  believer  is  seen  in  the  arena, 
the  heroes  of  faith  that  have  fought  and  won 
are  seen  in  the  amphitheater,  crowding  the  gal- 
laries,  tier  to  tier,  to  the  denseness  of  a  radiant 
cloud.  They  are  both  witnesses  and  spectators. 
Charming  and  exerting  and  entrancing  as  is  this 
vision,  and  great  and  numerous  as  is  the  throng 
-that  lines  the  race  course,  there  is  another  form 
that  the  parting  clouds  reveal,  standing  clear  and 
distinct  in  his  personality,  whose  brightness  and 
attractiveness  far  exceed  all  other  objects  of  sight. 
Here  the  clouds  fairly  melt  away,  as  on  the  l^.Iount 
of  Transfiguration,  and  only  one  form,  transcend- 
ently  glorious  appears.  It  is  on  that  form  that 
Paul  would  focus  the  eyes  of  the  whole  world, 
especially  the  Christian  world. 

We  can  carry  our  heads  down  so  low  and  so 
long  as  never  to  see  the  sun.  If  we  are  not  to 
see,  why  do  we  need  eyes?  Why  does  the  eagle 
need  wings  if  it  is  not  to  soar  and  fly?  Why 
ears,  unless  we  use  them  for  hearing.  Jesus  tells 
about  those  that  have  ears  to  hear,  but  do  not 
hear,  and  eyes  to  see,  but  see  not.  What  a  uni- 
verse of  beauty  fades  away  when  the  eyes  grow 
dim,  and  what  a  world  of  rhythmic  glory  dies 
away  when  the  ears  grow  dull !  It  was  for  the 
want  of  the  right  use  of  these  functions  that  both 
Jesus  and  the  apostles  complained.  Jesus  said, 
"Having  ears  ye  hear  not,"  and  Paul  said  to  the 
Jewish  Christians  that  he  had  "many  things  to  say" 
to  them  of  Christ,  "and  liard  to  be  uttered,"  as- 

87 


The  Exalted  Life 

signing  as  the  reason  for  the  difficulty,  the  "dull- 
ness of  their  hearing."  It  is  very  difficult  to  inter- 
est a  deaf  and  blind  person  in  things  depending 
on  the  eye  and  ear  for  their  power  to  interest. 

I  write  only  what  has  been  a  frequent  repetition 
these  days  when  I  give  expression  to  the  great 
need  of  the  Church,  and  of  individual  members 
having  a  new  fresh  vision  of  the  Christ. 
"Where  there  is  no  vision,"  Solomon  says,  "the 
people  perish."  Every  remarkable  epoch  in  the 
Church's  history,  distinguished  for  soul  winning 
and  constructive  power,  has  come  as  the  result  of 
an  enlarged,  open  vision  of  one  "like  unto  the  Son 
of  man." 

John   while   on   the   Isle   of   Patmos   made   large 
use  of  the  organs  of  hearing  and  seeing.     He  often 
gives  utterance  to  the  expressions,  "I  heard  a  voice," 
and  "I  beheld,"  "I  looked,  and,  lo!"     The  counsel 
to  each  of  the  seven  churches  was  to  give  heed  to 
what   the    Spirit   said — "He   that   hath   an   ear,   let 
him  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  unto  the  churches." 
This  shows  what  a  large  use  the  Church  should 
make,  and  must  make  of  the  Holy   Spirit  during 
this  dispensation  of  grace,  if  it  would  accomplish 
its  heaven-appointed  mission.     The  revelations  that 
the    Spirit    can    make    to   one    separated    unto    the 
vision,  as  John  was  on  the  lonely  Isle,  are  over- 
whelming to  the  senses.      Moses   had   to  have  his 
face  covered  with  the  divine  hand  when  Jehovah 
passed  by.     The   voice   that   John   heard   was   like 
the  sound  of  a  trumpet  and  reverberating  thunder, 
and  when  he  had  the  vision  of  one  "like  unto  the 
Son  of  man,"  he  said,  "I  fell  at  his  feet  as  dead." 

88 


Where  Hope  and  Faith  Have  Their  True  Center 

Mark  what  he  says  as  the  occasion  of  this  vision, 
"I  was  in  the  Spirit  on  the  Lord's  day."  This 
was  the  secret  of  this  vision. 

Paul  says,  "Looking  unto  Jesus."  But  this  must 
not  be  simply  and  only  a  vacant  stare,  for  that 
never  sees  anything.  A  man  that  has  eyes  and 
wants  to  see  something  can  do  so,  and  I  take  it 
that  a  man  that  wants  a  vision  can  have  it.  As 
said  in  another  place,  Abraham  saw  Christ's  day 
and  was  glad.  So  it  may  always  be  to  a  hungry 
eye.  These  visions  always  do  something  for  the 
subject  of  them.  It  gave  Moses  endurance.  It 
made  Isaiah  willing,  it  made  Jeremiah  wish  that  his 
head  were  waters,  tender  hearted.  It  put  Ezekiel 
into  the  valley  of  dry  bones  to  prophecy.  It  made 
Daniel  sick  and  faint,  then  he  rose  up  and  "did  the 
King's  business."  It  made  Saul  say,  "Who  art 
thou?"  learning,  he  at  once  started  for  the  field 
of  conflict  and  the  eternal  city. 

Ah !  something  will  be  doing  when  this  vision 
comes.  All  true  and  great  evangelists  have  been 
men  whose  hearts,  like  the  band  of  men  that  went 
out  with  Saul,  "have  been  touched."  This  is  true 
in  the  case  of  Luther,  Wesley,  Zinzendorf,  Ed- 
wards, Finney,  Moody,  and  Payton,  and  Fulton  in 
China.  Wlien  God's  call  comes  to  his  true  child- 
ren, they  cannot  stay.  There  is  no  power  in  earth 
or  hell  that  can  hold  them.  It  is  only  when  they 
have  cooled  down  and  cooled  off  that  they  can 
stay.  To  know  what  true  life  is,  true  spirituality, 
a  burning  quenchless  fire,  is  to  have  the  mind  stayed 
on  Jesus.  He  is  still  in  the  conflict  and  in  the 
race,   and  our  spiritual   attitude   is  well   expressed 

89 


The  Exalted  Life 

by  the  act,  "Looking  unto  Jesus,"  a  continuous 
exercise. 

So  it  must  not  be  with  a  weary,  languid,  sleepy 
gaze,  with  eyes  half  closed  as  in  the  early  stages 
of  slumber.  It  must  be  with  a  wide,  gladsome,  all- 
enraptured  vision.  Something  like  Simeon  and 
Anna  in  the  temple,  blind  Bartimeus  with  restored 
sight,  and  Saul  on  the  road  to  Damascus. 

There  are  the  very  best  of  reasons  why  the 
Christian  should  have  the  iixed  habit  of  looking 
unto  Jesus,  some  of  which  we  do  well  to  consider. 

First.  Because  he  is  the  "author  of  faith."  He 
is  so  named  by  the  apostle.  This  makes  him  the 
leader,  pjince,  captain,  or  as  Paul  puts  it  elsewhere, 
"forerunner  of  his  people."  As  our  leader  we  must 
keep  him  as  the  object  of  thought,  and  never  once 
think  of  growing  weary  of  thinking  of  him.  As 
the  first  to  live  a  life  of  perfect  and  unbroken  faith, 
he  becomes  the  only  reliable  object  and  true  ex- 
ample and  pattern  of  faith.  Is  faith  a  life  of 
perfect  dependence  on  God  ?  Then  Jesus  lived  that 
life.  He  said  "I  live  by  the  Father."  Is  faith 
the  source  and  channel  of  communion  with  God? 
Then  Jesus  lived  in  that  sweet,  abiding  fellowship. 
Hear  his  words :  "The  Father  hath  not  left  me 
alone."  "I  and  my  Father  are  one."  Is  faith  the 
the  substance  of  things  hoped  for?  Who  realized 
this  more  than  Jesus?  "Who  for  the  joy  that  was 
set  before  him  endured  the  cross,  despising  the 
shame,  and  is  now  set  down  at  the  right-hand  of 
the  throne  of  God?" 

So,  whatever  view  we  take  of  the  Christian  life, 
Christ  is  its  true  pattern,  and  to  live  it  we  must 

90 


Where  Hope  and  Faith  Have  Then'  True  Center 

follow  him.  True,  our  human  vision,  in  its  low- 
est sense  cannot  follow  him ;  so  in  a  physical  sense 
he  is  invisible  to  us ;  and  yet  we  may  have  that 
strange  experience  that  Paul  describes  as  the  Christ, 
"Whom  having  not  seen,  we  love."  How  strange 
that  love,  which  usually  depends  so  largely  on  cor- 
poreal vision  for  its  existence  and  perpetuity,  should 
swing  into  such  exuberance  over  a  man  that  died 
nearly  nineteen  centuries  ago,  and  whom  his  lovers 
have  neve  rseen  corporeally,  and  yet  they  shout 
in  the  face  of  all  the  mists  and  shadows,  "We  see 
Jesus  crowned  with  glory  and  honor,"  and  then 
press  on  toward  their  own  coronation. 

The  sight  is  most  transforming.  It  is  brighter 
than  the  face  of  any  angel.  It  is  said  of  him  on 
the  Mount  of  Transfiguration  that  "his  face  did 
shine  as  the  sun."  John  says  of  him  in  the  book  of 
Revelation,  that  "his  countenance  was  as  the  sun 
shineth  in  his  strength."  Paul  speaking  of  his  con- 
version says,  "I  saw  in  the  way  a  light  from 
heaven,  above  the  brightness  of  the  sun,  shining 
round  about  me."  That  light  was  Jesus  whom  Paul 
persecuted. 

Second.  We  should  look  to  Jesus  because  he  is 
the  "finisher,  the  perfecter  of  faith."  He  is  not 
only  the  author,  the  beginner,  but  he  is  also  the 
completer  of  faith.  This  makes  Jesus  the  totality — 
the  whole,  "the  beginning  and  the  end,  the  first  and 
the  last,"  the  all  and  in  all — in  the  plan  of  salvation. 
Christ  is  the  one  lone  winner,  the  only  one  that 
has  always  triumphed,  with  whom  no  one  could 
or  can  be  compared  in  these  respects.    How  natural 

91 


The  Exalted  Life 

then  for  his  Church  to  look  to  him  as  its  leader  and 
example  because  of  this  preeminence. 

Faith  and  hope  are  so  intimately  and  closely  re- 
lated in  the  definition  given  of  faith  that  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  keep  them  from  blending  in  thought,  and 
so  sometimes  from  being  used  interchangeably. 
This  is  largely  the  method  used  in  this  chapter,  as 
will  be  seen  as  we  advance  to  its  close.  The  an- 
chor and  the  cable  literally  are  so  relatetd  to  each 
other  that  one  is  entirely  useless  without  the  other. 
The  ship  in  a  storm  depends  upon  their  united 
strength  for  its  safety.  Neither  one  without  the 
other  can  save  it. 

So  with  a  building.  There  must  first  be  a  foun- 
dation. No  man  can  build  up  in  the  air,  unless  he 
builds  simply  an  "air-castle."  Then  there  must  be 
added  to  the  foundation  the  superstructure,  or  it 
can  never  be  a  finished  piece  of  work,  and  can  never 
be  utilized  as  a  dwelling.  It  is  the  building  that  is 
well  founded  and  well  built  that  stands  when  the 
winds  blow,  the  rain  descends,  and  the  floods  come. 
If  ever  a  man  needs  protection,  security,  it  is  in 
the  time  of  storm.  Why  build  at  all  unless  for  such 
a  time?  Anything  will  do  in  the  time  of  calm;  but 
days  of  evil  are  the  days  to  provide  for.  Jesus 
makes  hearing  (believing)  and  doing  the  indestruc- 
tible in  character  building.  Two  perils  confront 
the  professed  followers  of  Christ:  There  is  the 
danger  of  believing  in  a  nominal  way,  and  then  not 
verifying  the  faith  in  and  by  the  life.  Believe, 
but  do  not  do.  Then  there  is  the  doing,  profession- 
ally, without  the  verifying  of  the  profession  by  a 
living  faith. 

92 


Where  Hope  and  Faith  Have  Their  True  Center 

Jesus  taught  the  danger  of  divorcing  these  in 
the  life,  in  his  sermon  on  the  mount.  (Matthew 
7:21-27.)  There  is  great  danger  of  church-people, 
kingdom-of-heaven-people,  relying  too  strongly  and 
hopefully  on  the  profession  they  make — belonging 
to  church,  being  baptized,  having  a  good  creed,  re- 
specting sacramental  occasions,  being  officially  ac- 
tive in  the  church — without  having  the  conscious 
indwelling  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  What  was  the 
trouble  with  the  second  class  named  in  the  parable 
of  the  ten  virgins?  They  were  all  classed  as  vir- 
gins, all  had  lamps,  all  went  forth  to  meet  the 
bridegroom,  all  slept  while  the  v/edding  was  de- 
layed, all  heard  the  midnight  cry,  all  arose,  all 
trimmed  their  lamps;  but — what?  One  thing  lack- 
ing— only  one  thing — upon  the  part  of  the  unfor- 
tunate five.  They  found  in  this  crisis  hour  that 
they  had  neglected  or  forgotten  to  take  oil  with 
them.  ''The  wise  took  oil  in  their  vessels  with 
their  lamps."  This  one  thing,  oil  and  no  oil,  dis- 
tinguished them  as  beino;"  wise  and  foolish.  This 
one  thing  broke  their  fellowship  at  this  wedding. 
The  record  says,  ''The  bridegroom  came ;  and  they 
that  were  ready  went  in  with  him  to  the  mar- 
riage ;  and  the  door  was  shut."  "Afterward !"  Ah ! 
that  awful  word,  "afterward."  Too  late  to  make 
amends  for  their  carelessness !  They  prayed — those 
"other  virgins,"  all  so  good  up  to  this  time — "say- 
ing, Lord,  Lord,  open  to  us."  The  answer  was,  "I 
know  you  not."  One  thing  lacking — oil.  Lamps 
gone  out  and  no  oil  to  replenish  them. 

Now,  docs  this  relate  to  church  people?  Jesus 
says,  "Then  shall  the  kingdom  of  heaven  be  lik- 

93 


The  Exalted  Life 

ened,"  and  then  gives  these  ten  virgins  as  the  illus- 
tration. This  certainly  means  kingdom-of-heaven 
people,  and — if  so,  it  is  full  of  instructive  warn- 
ing to  all  Christians  of  every  generation.  *'Watch," 
is  the  word  for  the  times,  and  never  more  needed 
than  now.  It  is  so  easy  to  mistake  the  false  for  the 
true,  the  sham  for  the  real,  and  error  for  the 
truth.  There  is  one  thing  that  can  settle  the  ques- 
tion of  the  certainty  of  our  inheritance,  and  that 
is  the  possession  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Oil 
is  the  symbol  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  This  lacking,  as 
in  the  case  of  the  virgins,  all  might  as  well  be 
lacking,  for  all  finally  turns  on  this.  "If  any  man 
have  not  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  he  is  none  of  his." 
(Romans  8:9.)  To  such  Jesus  says,  "I  know 
you  not."  "Then  will  I  profess  unto  them,  I  never 
knew  you."  That  is,  I  never,  with  all  your  pro- 
fession, acknowledged  you  to  be  mine. 

This  is  the  serious  question  for  Christian  people 
to  consider  at  this  time.  Is  Christ  acknowledging 
us  now?  Is  he  owning  me  now?  Do  I  know  that 
I  am  his  by  unquestioning  evidences?  This  all 
ought  to  know,  "The  Lord  knoweth  them  that  are 
his,"  and  he  will  keep  them  in  the  awful  wreckage 
that  is  coming.  He  is  making  up  his  jewels,  and 
will  gather  them  by  and  by.  He  kept  Abraham  and 
Sarah,  Noah  and  his  family,  and  the  Hebrews,  as 
a  nation,  in  times  of  great  wickedness  and  fearful 
judgments.  So  he  will  always  keep  his  own,  those 
whose  lives  are  hid  with  him  in  God,  whose  hopes 
are  centered  and  anchored  in  him,  and  who  are 
waiting  in  glorious  expectation  of  his  final  coming. 


94 


CHAPTER  Vni. 
Vision  Rightly  Focused. 

In  the  preceding  chapter  the  effort  was  to  show 
Christ  as  the  great  center  and  the  ground,  the 
foundation  of  all  faith  and  hope.  In  this  chapter 
the  main  thought  will  be  to  show  the  importance 
of  a  clear,  unobstructed  vision  of  him.  Holding  to 
Paul's  words  in  Hebrews,  ''looking,"  we  have  the 
true  idea  of  how  to  make  the  largest  use  and  to  get 
the  greatest  possible  good  out  of  the  promises.  As 
Christ  alone  can  make  the  promises  available  to  his 
followers,  it  is  of  first  and  greatest  importance  how 
we  look  at  him. 

To  see  is  an  involuntary  act,  not  necessarily  un- 
der the  control  of  the  will ;  but  to  look,  or  looking, 
in  the  sense  of  this  text,  is  a  voluntary  act.  It 
is  gazing  away  or  off  from  other  things,  or  things 
in  general,  in  order  to  see  some  special  thing. 
Hence,  to  see  Jesus  implies  or  imposes  the  duty 
of  shutting  out  other  and  contrary  things  from 
the  gaze. 

This  is  no  more  than  is  demanded  and  observed 
in  other  objects  of  sight  and  pursuit.  Science  will 
not  reward  a  vagabond  of  a  student.  There  must 
be  singleness  of  aim,  and  concentration  of  effort. 
No  vagrant  followers  will  find  any  reward  here. 
It  is  the  man  that  puts  all  there  is  of  him,  day  and 
night,  into  his  effort  that  can  finally  shout,  "Eureka !" 
Here  is  where  the  scientist  finds  great  use  for  the 

95 


The  Exalted  Life 

spectrum,  the  speculum,  the  microscope,  the  sun- 
glass, and  the  telescope.  They  magnify  objects, 
concentrate  and  also  enlarge  the  vision. 

Paul  would  say  you  cannot  see  everything  if 
you  would  see  Jesus.  There  must  be  concentration 
of  vision.  In  order  to  this  there  is  much  that 
must  be  shut  out.  There  must  be  both  exclusion 
and  seclusion.  Here  we  have  the  true  philosophy 
of  a  door  as  used  in  the  Scriptures.  Jesus  said 
when  you  enter  your  closet,  ''Shut  to  the  door." 
Do  not  let  the  whole  wide  world  on  you  2:aze,  il 
you  would  see  "thy  Father."  Of  himself,  he  said, 
"Behold,  I  stand  at  the  door  and  knock."  This 
figure  is  his  urgent  cry  to  be  let  in.  He  wants  to 
swing  the  heart  and  the  brain  of  man  into  higher 
and  better  relations  than  the  earthly.  Then  he 
denominated  himself  as  the  door  saying,  'T  am  the 
door."  By  this  entrance  you  will  find  green  pas- 
ture fields  and  quiet  waters.  You  will  also  find 
great  liberty,  "go  in  and  out,"  never  any  unwhole- 
some restraints.  With  Christ  as  the  door,  how 
safeguarded  his  sheep !  Nothing  can  pass  that  door 
that  will  harm  them.  "Nothing  can  pluck  them  out 
of  his  hands" ;  and  as  the  Father  is  greater  than 
he,  "nothing  can  pluck  them  out  of  his  Father's 
hands." 

Looking  unto  Jesus  implies  that  we  turn  avv^ay 
our  faces  from  even  the  cloud  of  witnesses,  the 
heroes  of  faith,  the  departed  saints,  as  primary  ob- 
jects of  vision,  and  put  him  first  and  highest  of 
all.  These  last  may  stimulate  and  encourage  us, 
but  they  have  no  power  to  produce  the  divine  life 
in  us,  and  no  power  of  grace  to  sustain  us. 

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Vision  Rightly  Focused 

Even  the  living,  those  about  us,  must  not  get 
between  us  and  Christ.  The  Hving  can  do  much 
for  us,  and  we  need  their  sympathy  and  friendship ; 
but  our  souls  need  more  than  lies  in  the  power  of 
any  mortal  to  give.  The  racer  must  get  his  eyes 
off  the  crowd,  as  he  rushes  by  toward  the  goal. 
He  must  see  only  one  thing.  The  shout  and  roar 
of  the  multitude  may  stimulate  to  increased  action, 
but  he  must  have  the  power  of  winning  in  himself. 

So  with  the  spiritual  athlete.  He  must  be  so 
trained  and  nourished  by  divine  agencies  that  he 
can  run  with  patience  the  race  set  before  him. 
Paul  says,  "Know  ye  not  that  they  which  run  in  a 
race    run   all,   but   one   receiveth   the   prize?" 

So  run  that  ye  may  obtain.  Then  he  names 
some  things  to  be  observed  if  the  mastery  is  to  be 
obtained,  among  them  is  to  be  temperate,  or  exer- 
cise self-restraint  in  all  things.  Writing  of  him- 
self more  especially  he  says,  'T  so  run,  not  as  un- 
certainly; so  fight  I,  not  as  one  that  beateth  the 
air;  but  I  keep  under  my  body,  and  bring  it  into 
subjection;  lest  by  any  means,  when  I  have  preached 
unto  others,  I  myself  should  be  a  castaway."  (I. 
Corinthians  9:26,  27.) 

Paul  is  here  writing  of  service  and  not  salva- 
tion, and  he  wished  to  have  such  self-control,  such 
discipline,  as  in  no  way  to  hazard  the  divine  ap- 
proval, "Well  done,  thou  good  and  faithful  serv- 
ant." He  was  a  boxer,  but  he  did  not  buffet  the 
air;  it  was  himself,  his  body  that  he  buffeted.  He 
was,  as  a  little  girl  said  one  time,  trying  to  "keep 
his  soul  on  top."  He  was  giving  the  spiritual  the 
ascendency  over  the  sensual.     To  do  this  required 

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The  Exalted  Life 

the  straight  well  aimed  blows  of  a  trained  pugilist. 
There  must  be  no  quarter  shown  in  the  fight,  no 
flag  of  truce  flung  to  the  breeze,  no  compromise 
for  the  sake  of  peace.  It  must  be  a  fight  to  the 
finish,   a  fight  to  the  death. 

But,  while  life  is  a  battle,  and  the  enemies  are 
the  mightiest  and  most  overwhelming  that  the  hu- 
man spirit  ever  encountered — "the  world,  the  flesh, 
and  the  devil" — there  is  One  still  mightier,  who  has 
met  and  vanquished  every  foe,  and  who  promises 
that  his  followers  shall  be  more  than  conquerors 
through  him. 

It  is  possible,  in  the  midst  of  these  conflicts,  to 
look  too  much  at  the  difficulties  of  life,  and  so,  in  a 
measure,  become  blinded  to  the  promised,  and  al- 
ways available  aid.  It  was  so  with  Elisha's  serv- 
ant. He  saw  only  the  enemy,  with  "his  horses  and 
chariots" ;  but  when  the  Lord  opened  his  eyes  in 
answer  to  prayer,  he  saw  that  "the  mountain  was 
full  of  horses  and  chariots  of  fire  round  about 
Elisha."  He  found  it  just  as  he  had  been  told  by 
Elisha,  that  "they  that  be  with  us  are  more  than 
they  that  be  with  them." 

How  many  things  we  can  see  that  are  against 
us  when  we  have  only  the  human  vision.  Antici- 
pation, especially  of  evil,  is  usually  wide-eyed.  It 
can  see  a  whole  world  of  giants,  mountains,  and 
walled  cities,  like  the  spies  of  old.  They  said,  "We 
be  not  able  to  go  against  the  people ;  for  they  are 
stronger  than  we."  Furthermore,  they  said,  "We 
were  in  our  own  sight  as  grasshoppers,  and  so  we 
were  in  their  sight."  Then  all  Israel  went  into  a 
frenzy  of  grief.    They  mourned  and  cried  and  wept, 

98 


Vision  Rightly  Focused 

and  said,  ''Would  God  that  we  had  died  in  Egypt; 
or  would  God  that  we  had  died  in  this  wilderness." 
They  went  into  rebellion.  This  is  the  language  of 
hopelessness  and  unbelief.  Hear  the  men  of  faith 
and  hope  talk.  Caleb  and  Joshua  said :  *'The  land 
which  we  passed  through  to  search  it,  is  an  exceed- 
ing good  land.  If  the  Lord  delight  in  us,  then  he 
will  bring  us  into  this  land,  and  give  it  us;  a  land 
that  floweth  with  milk  and  honey." 

The  divine  answer  to  this  people  came  in  the 
line  of  their  talk.  God  said  to  Moses,  "Say  unto 
them,  as  truly  as  I  live,  saith  the  Lord,  as  ye 
have  spoken  in  mine  ears,  so  will  I  do  to  you." 
They  were  taken  at  their  word,  and  were  turned 
back  into  the  wilderness  for  forty  years  of  wander- 
ing until  all  perished,  except  Caleb  and  Joshua, 
that  were  in  the  enumeration  for  military  pur- 
poses when  they  left  Egypt. 

*'As  ye  have  spoken  in  mine  ears,  so  will  I  do 
to  you,"  are  very  significant  words.  God  takes 
his  people  according  to  their  faith,  and  faith  is 
usually  determined  or  indicated  by  the  way  they 
talk.  Faith  says,  we  can,  and  we  will,  and  it  does. 
It  talks  success  and  succeeds.  Unbelief  talks  fail- 
ure and  defeat.  It  says  we  never  can,  we  never 
shall,  and  it  never  does. 

Jesus  said  to  the  blind  men :  "Believe  ye  that  I 
am  able  to  do  this?  They  said  unto  him,  Yea, 
Lord."  Then  he  said,  "According  to  your  faith 
be  it  unto  you."     Their  eyes  were  opened. 

Unbelief  magnifies  the  difficulties  and  minimizes 
the    advantages,    the    helps,    while    faith   magnifies 

99 


The  Exalted  Life 

(not  exaggerates)  the  helps  and  minimizes  the  hin- 
drances. 

Unbelief  puts  up  giants  and  walled  cities  against 
human  might,  while  faith  puts  up  against  all  these 
earthly  powers  the  Almighty.  The  unbelieving 
spies  said  we  are  not  able,  and  they  were  right. 
The  two  men  of  faith  said  we  are  abundantly 
able,  and  they  were  right.  Where  the  difference? 
The  one  party  took  God  into  the  reckoning,  the 
other  party  left  him  out. 

Taking  Jesus  into  account,  ''looking  unto  him," 
is  to  supplant  darkness  with  light,  weakness  with 
might,  despair  with  hope,  and  turn  defeat  into 
victory.  Anticipating  trouble,  imagining  and  ex- 
aggerating difficulties,  is  weakening  to  faith  and 
the  sure  road  to  defeat.  "He  that  observeth  the 
winds  shall  not  sow,  and  he  that  regardeth  the 
clouds  shall  not  reap."  If  Peter  had  kept  his 
eyes  on  Jesus  he  would  have  known  little  of  the 
winds  or  the  boisterous  sea.  His  feet  would  have 
gone  on  a  sea  of  glass ;  it  would  have  been  a  pave- 
ment of  rock  beneath  his  feet. 

It  is  just  so  with  our  trials.  When  we  come 
to  the  place  the  hills  and  the  mountains  have  dis- 
appeared, and  nothing  but  an  even  plane  stretches 
away  at  our  feet.  All  that  Jesus  has  to  do  is  but 
to  speak  to  the  stormy  sea,  and  at  once,  as  Bishop 
Weaver  once  said,  ''the  winds  will  fold  their  wings 
in  peace,  and  the  wild  waves  sneak  away  as  if 
afraid  to  lash  themselves  on  the  rock-bound  shore." 

It  is  looking  down  that  makes  the  timid  climber 
afraid.  He  must  look  up  and  on.  If  we  are  going 
up   as  our  final   destiny  we  never   desire   to   come 

100 


Vision  Rightly  Focused 

down.  Our  fears  should  be  on  the  line  of  de- 
scent instead  of  on  the  line  of  ascent.  We  need 
not  fear  an  exalted  life,  for  that  is  the  life  we  are 
called  to  live.  Paul  said,  "I  press  toward  the  mark 
for  the  prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ 
Jesus,"  It  is  a  call  upward ;  the  goal  is  upward ; 
all  the  divine  agencies  and  impulses  are  upward 
in  their  tendencies,  and  we  must  keep  our  gaze 
upward,  as  the  disciples  did  at  the  foot  and  on  the 
summit  of  Mount  Olivet,  where  Jesus  vanished 
from  their  sight.  The  attitude  of  these  disciples 
is  the  attitude,  or  should  be,  of  the  Church  until 
he  returns.  Think  how  fixed  their  attitude :  "And 
while  they  looked  stedfastly  toward  heaven  as  he 
went  up,  behold,  two  men  stood  before  them  in 
white  apparel  which  also  said,  Ye  men  of  Galilee, 
why  stand  ye  gazing  up  into  heaven  ?  this  same  Jesus^ 
which  is  taken  up  from  you  into  heaven,  shall  so 
come  in  like  manner  as  ye  have  seen  him  go  into 
heaven."     (Acts  1:10,  11.) 

These  disciples  looked  steadfastly,  and  the 
angels  said  unto  them,  "Why  stand  ye  gazing  up 
into  heaven?"  How  Jesus  must  have  pulled  and 
held  their  vision  until  that  cloud  received  him  out 
of  sight !  How  hard  it  must  have  been  to  turn  away 
from  that  entrancing  scene !  How  easy  it  ought 
to  be  to  look  upward  now  that  Jesus  has  ascended ! 
Representatively  he  has  taken  his  whole  Church 
up  with  him.  He  is  not  without  his  body.  He  is  its 
life;  all  its  members  died  in  him,  and  are  risen  in 
him,  positionally,  and  now  only  wait  his  return  to 
have  all  made  actual  that  is  now  a  life  of  hope. 

101 


The  Exalted  Life 

Christ  has  redeemed  the  lost  inheritance  and  has 
the  title  deed  to  deliver  to  every  member  of  the  di- 
vine family.  Like  Boaz  bought  back  Ruth's  lost 
inheritance  and  restored  it  to  her,  so  Jesus  has  re- 
deemed the  inheritance  lost  in  the  first  representa- 
tive head  of  the  race,  and  will  restore  it  to  all  that 
will  accept  it  as  a  gift.  There  was  no  one  that  could 
restore  the  inheritance  to  Ruth  but  Boaz,  her 
kindred. 

So  there  is  no  one  but  Jesus  can  restore  this 
inheritance.  When  John  saw  the  hopelessness  rep- 
resented by  the  seven-sealed  book  he  wept.  No 
one  "in  heaven,  nor  in  earth,  nor  under  the  earth, 
was  able  to  open  the  book,  neither  to  look  thereon," 
was  the  record  that  broke  his  heart.  In  the  midst 
of  his  grief  hope  came,  "Weep  not ;  behold  the  lion 
of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  the  root  of  David,  hath  pre- 
vailed to  open  the  book,  and  to  loose  the  seals  there- 
of." As  John  beheld,  the  lion  became  a  lamb,  ap- 
pearing as  a  sacrifice,  and  at  once  took  the  book  from 
the  hand  of  him  that  sat  upon  the  throne.  Here 
the  whole  scene  changed.  The  twenty-four  elders 
fell  before  the  lamb,  each  touching  harpstrings  that 
were  silent,  and  opening  golden  bowls  of  rarest 
perfume,  and  filling  the  air  with  vibrant  tones,  the 
sweetest  that  mortal  ears  ever  heard,  and  ladening 
the  breath  of  winds  with  the  richest  odors  ever 
inhaled.  Silence  could  no  longer  reign.  A  glori- 
ous anthem  was  sung,  called  "a  new  song,  saving, 
Thou  are  worthy  to  take  the  book  and  to  open  the 
seals  thereof :  for  thou  wast  slain,  and  hast  re- 
deemed us  to  God  by  thy  blood  out  of  every 
kindred,  and  tongue,  and  people,  and  nation;  and 

102 


Vision  Rightly  Focused 

hast  made  us  nnto  our  God  kings  and  priests;  and 
we  shall  reign  on  the  earth." 

Here  we  have  the  celebration  of  the  restored 
inheritance;  but  as  John  listens  the  enthusiasm 
spreads  and  the  music  grows.  There  is  another 
order  or  class  of  beings  catching  up  the  strain  and 
joining  in  the  anthem.  He  says,  "And  I  heard  the 
voice  of  many  angels  round  about  the  throne 
and  the  beasts  [creatures]  and  the  elders:  and 
the  number  of  them  was  ten  thousand  times  ten 
thousand,  and  thousands  of  thousands ;  saying  with 
a  loud  voice.  Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  vv^as  slain 
to  receive  power,  and  riches,  and  wisdom,  and 
strength,  and  honour,  and  glory,  and  blessing."  And 
still  the  anthem  grows  until  it  takes  in  "every  crea- 
ture which  is  in  heaven,  and  on  earth,  and  under 
the  earth,  and  such  as  are  in  the  sea,  and  all  that 
are  in  them." 

Jesus,  the  Lamb  of  God,  our  Savior,  our  Lord 
and  Master,  has  the  eyes  of  all  worlds  fixed  on 
him,  and  he  is  the  center  and  object  of  all  praise, 
as  seen  in  the  description  above.  Can  it  be  that 
he  is  more  to  the  angels  in  heaven,  and  that  they 
can  sing  sweeter  anthems  to  him  than  those  for 
whom  he  gave  his  life,  and  who  have  been  re- 
deemed from  sin's  awful  ruin  by  his  blood?  Is 
there  any  object  of  earthly  beauty  or  earthly  value 
that  can  take  his  place  in  the  heart,  in  the  home,  and 
in  the  life  of  his  followers?  If  there  is,  of  such 
a  one  he  would  say,  "He  is  not  worthy  of  me." 
Father  and  mother,  wife  and  children,  brothers  and 
sisters,  and  even  life  itself  must  be  subordinate 
to  Jesus. 

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The  Exalted  Life 

In  Matthews  12 :  47-50,  Jesus  establishes  a  new 
family  relationship,  founded  on  faith  instead  of 
blood  relationship,  and  conditioned  on  "whosoever 
will  do  the  will  of  his  Father."  Here  natural 
affection  is  to  be  surrendered  to  love  for  Christ, 
and  in  the  comparison  is  to  be  so  subordinated 
as  to  be  expressed  by  the  word  "hate."  This  is 
not  the  passion  or  emotion  of  hatred,  but  love  in 
a  less  or  subordinate  degree,  simply  less  love.  This 
is  well  expressed  by  the  words  of  Jesus  when  he 
says,  "He  that  loveth  father  or  mother,  son  or 
daughter,  more  than  me,  is  not  worthy  of  me."  The 
same  idea  is  expressed  in  the  Savior's  words  to 
Simon  Peter,  "Lovest  thous  me  more  than  these?" 
The  teaching  is  that  Christ  must  be  supreme  in 
our  affections,  and  be  first  in  his  claims  on  our  time 
and  life-interests.  Can  it  or  should  it  be  other- 
wise? Is  it  possible  for  us  to  give  him  a  subordi- 
nate place  in  what  we  are  or  in  what  we  have  ?  Can 
he,  must  he  ever  fade  from  our  vision,  when  the 
cry  of  the  heart's  deepest  hunger  is  for  him  ? 

But  in  order  to  see  him  we  must  not  only  turn 
our  faces  from  the  "cloud  of  witnesses,"  the  living 
that  are  about  us,  and  the  difficulties,  the  rough- 
ness of  the  way,  but  we  must  not  look  too  much 
at  ourselves.  Groaning  over  our  personal  weak- 
nesses, unless  as  penitents,  is  not  a  very  stimulat- 
ing and  edifying  exercise.  Self  is  a  very  dark, 
obscuring  cloud,  and  the  eyes  must  be  turned  away 
from  it  to  Jesus.  There  is  everything  in  him  to 
stimulate  faith  and  courage.  What  help  and  hope 
was  there  to  a  leper  looking  at  himself?  Every 
gaze  would  only  deepen  his  gloom  and  fill  him  with 

104 


Vision  Rightly  Focused 

the  utmost  despair.  It  was  Jesus  that  he  needed 
to  see,  and  it  was  to  him  that  one  cried  saying, 
"Lord  [Master]  if  thou  wilt,  thou  canst  make  me 
clean."  The  response,  quickly  made  was,  "I  will; 
be  thou  clean."  It  was  done.  Jesus  always  an- 
swers in  the  line  of  the  personal  difficulty.  This 
leper's  difficulty  was  in  reference  to  the  divine  will 
— *Tf  thou  wilt."  It  was  not  the  divine  power  that 
was  questioned,  for  he  said,  "Thou  canst."  Take 
the  case  of  the  man  that  brought  his  son  to  Jesus 
for  healing.  The  disciples  had  tried  and  failed, 
and  now  the  man  came  to  Jesus  saying,  "If  thou 
canst  do  anything,  have  compassion  on  us  and 
help  us."  Note  the  answer  given,  "If  thou  canst 
believe,  all  things  are  possible  to  him  that  be- 
lieveth."  The  man  said  to  Jesus,  "If  thou  canst 
do."  Jesus  said  to  him  "If  thou  canst  believe." 
Here  the  question  was  as  to  the  divine  ability. 
Jesus  said,  I  have  the  power,  have  you  the  faith? 
The  father  of  the  child  cried  out,  and  said  with 
tears,  "Lord,  I  believe ;  help  thou  mine  unbelief." 

How  graciously  and  tenderly  our  Lord  meets 
our  difficulties  if  we  only  look  to  him.  He  gave 
Zacchaeus,  the  little  man,  a  chance  to  see  him  by 
stopping  under  the  very  tree  he  had  climbed  into 
for  this  purpose.  "He  sought  to  see  Jesus  who 
he  was,"  and  he  saw  him,  for  Jesus  said,  "Zac- 
chaeus, make  haste  and  come  down :  for  to-day  I 
must  abide  at  thy  house."  He  did  as  Jesus  told 
him.  "He  made  haste  and  came  down,  and  re- 
ceived him  joyfully." 

It  always  pays  to  do  as  Jesus  says.  When  lie 
says,  "Be  quick,"  there  must  be  instant  action.    The 

105 


The  Exalted  Life 

mulberr}^  tree,  in  this  instance,  soon  lost  its  little 
man,  for  he  got  down  quickly.  Joy  reigned  in  the 
shadow  of  that  tree  and  in  the  home  of  this  com- 
missioner of  taxes  on  this  eventful  day.  Jesus  was 
there.     He  always  brings  joy. 

The  belated,  doubting  Thomas,  when  told  by  the 
other  disciples  that  they  had  seen  the  Lord  said, 
"Except  I  shall  see  in  his  hands  the  print  of  the 
nails,  and  put  my  finger  into  the  print  of  the  nails, 
and  thrust  my  hand  into  his  side,  I  will  not  believe." 
Cruel  demand !  Would  he  open  these  wounds 
afresh  ? 

The  others  believed,  why  could  not  he?  This 
query  presses  to-day.  Many  critics  rise  up  and 
sharply  condemn  others  for  not  accepting  all  that 
breadth  of  the  supernatural  that  they  claim  their 
faith  so  readily  and  easily  covers. 

Faith  has  its  gradations,  from  no  faith  to  all 
faith,  and  as  such  distinguishes  individual  believers 
in  the  line  of  their  living  and  in  the  line  of  their 
work.  Paul,  in  giving  instruction  to  the  Christians 
in  Rome  touching  service,  and  the  exercise  of  cer- 
tain gifts,  said  that  it  was  to  be  done  "according 
to  the  proportion  of  faith."  In  another  place  he 
counsels  them  to  think  soberly,  not  to  become  in- 
toxicated over  their  gifts,  but  to  measure  them- 
selves, as  individuals,  by  the  amount  of  faith  allot- 
ted to  each.  (Romans  12:3-6.)  In  some  respects 
this  is  very  sane  advice  for  these  days.  The  very 
thing  that  Christianity  has  relied  on  so  largely 
through  all  the  centuries  for  its  verification,  can 
become  one  of  the  most  fatal  snares  to  the  progress 
of  the  Church ;  namely,  the  supernatural.     Never 

106 


Vision  Rightly  Focused 

were  satanic  agencies  more  active  and  destructive 
to  genuine  faith  than  now.  These  things  better 
not  be  rehearsed,  except  possibly  as  warnings  to  the 
unwary.  We-  covet  the  marvelous,  the  wonderful, 
the  supernatural. 

In  the  case  of  Thomas,  Jesus  granted  him  his 
demands,  saying,  as  he  did  so,  "Be  not  faithless, 
but  believing."  The  sight  was  overwhelming.  He 
exclaimed,  "My  Lord  and  my  God !"  Jesus  attribu- 
ted faith  in  this  instance  to  seeing,  and  then  pro- 
nounced a  blessing  on  all  that  believe  without  see- 
ing. The  real  trend  of  spirituality  is  from  the 
outer  to  the  inner  life ;  from  the  occular  to  the 
occult.  A  religion  built  on  the  physical  senses 
is  a  house  built  on  the  sand,  and  will  not  stand 
in  the  day  of  storm.  So  we  must  Iiave  our  eyes 
away  from  ourselves  and  fixed  on  Jesus.  "Look- 
ing unto  Jesus" — this  will  transform  us  into 
his  image ;  it  will  make  us  forget  ourselves.  We 
are  told  that,  when  Coleridge  stood  before  Mount 
Blanc,  that  he  forgot  hunger,  exhaustion,  pain  it- 
self, and  with  eyes  dim  and  suffused  with  tears,  the 
poet  thought  only  of  that  sight  sublime.  How  like 
the  sight  of  Jesus  to  the  Christian!  His  cross  is 
transforming  the  world,  though  standing  on  the  far- 
off  hills  of  Judea.  The  vision  of  him  must  mean 
larger  communion  and  fellowship  between  him  and 
his  disciples,  and  thus  result  in  something  being 
held  in  common  between  them.  The  disciple  may 
be  lower  but  not  unlike  his  Master.  To  the  de- 
gree that  he  understands  him  and  appropriates 
his  life  he  duplicates  that  life.  If  Herschel  was 
right  when   he   said,   "The  astronomer  thinks   out 

107 


The  Exalted  Life 

God's  thoughts  after  him";  and  if  Agassiz  was 
right  when  he  exclaimed,  "The  geologist  moves 
along  paths  worn  deeply  by  the  divine  footprints," 
then  surely  man  must,  living  after  and  out  of  that 
life  be  in  a  measure  a  duplication  of  it.  If  not, 
what  does  being  a  partaker  of  the  divine  nature 
imply  ? 

With  a  divine  heredity,  and  such  an  environ- 
ment as  that  "cloud  of  witnesses"  that  Paul  de- 
scribes in  the  twelfth  chapter  of  Hebrews,  can  it 
be  that  a  life  on  a  level  lower  than  the  one  that 
that  vision  reveals  can  be  satisfying  to  the  heart 
hungering  for  righteousness,  and  meet  the  appro- 
bation of  Him  who  said,  "Be  ye  therefore  perfect, 
even  as  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven  is  perfect?" 

This  perfection  is  well  expressed  by  the  words, 
"Unto  a  perfect  man,  unto  the  measure  of  the  stat- 
ure of  the  fulness  of  Christ."  (Ephesians  4:  12, 
13.)  Here  is  maturity  in  godliness,  perfect  spirit- 
ual manhood,  the  size  of  full,  matured  manhood. 
"No  more  children,  tossed  to  and  fro,  and  carried 
about  by  every  wind  of  doctrine,  by  the  sight  of 
men,  and  cunning  craftiness,  whereby  they  lie  in 
wait  to  deceive." 


108 


CHAPTER  IX. 
The  Importance  of  Being  Securely  Anchored. 

The  passing  days  are  the  brightest  days  that  the 
world  has  ever  seen.  Nature  is  yielding  up  her 
secrets  to  the  pioneers  of  thought  as  never  before. 
On  every  hand  are  the  evidences — some  of  them 
fairly  startling — of  world-wide  progress.  The 
ocean,  earth,  and  air  are  alive  with  evidences  of 
man's  discoveries  and  explorations.  The  words  of 
prophecy  are  being  verified  as  never  before.  "Many 
shall  run  to  and  fro,  and  knowledge  shall  be  in- 
creased." The  kingdom  of  God  is  being  extended 
among  all  nations,  and  is  having  a  controlling  power 
among  the  nations  hitherto  unprecedented.  There 
is  more  of  Christ  in  the  world  in  this  than  in  any 
preceding  age.  He  is  more  in  civilization,  in 
legislation,  in  literature,  in  history,  in  chronology, 
in  geography,  in  architecture,  in  painting,  in  sculp- 
ture, in  theology,  in  poetry,  in  song,  and  in  the 
hearts  and  souls  of  more  men  and  women  and  child- 
ren than  ever  before.  Christ  is  coming  more  and 
more  into  possession  of  his  inheritance  and  of  his 
right  to  rule  among  men.  To  rule  is  his  right,  and 
this  right  he  will  finally  claim  which  none  will 
dispute. 

But  with  all  these  glorious  achievements  of  the 
past,  and  this  glorious  outlook  for  the  future,  there 
never  was  more  need  of  Christians  giving  earnest 
heed  to  St.  Paul's  appeal,  "Cast  not  away  there- 
fore your  confidence  which  hath  great  recompense 

109 


The  Exalted  Life 

of  reward."  (Hebrews  10:35.)  It  is  easy  for 
some  persons,  when  under  stress  of  trials,  to  give  up 
their  confidence,  their  courage,  and  thus  discount 
all  that  God  has  done  for  them,  and  espouse  some 
of  the  greatest  errors  that  characterize  the  present- 
day  movements.  How  many  good  people  have  thus 
been  wrecked,  lost  their  testimony,  thrown  away 
the  gifts  and  the  graces  of  the  spirit,  and  have 
"only  the  apples  of  Sodom  instead." 

The  commands  and  warnings  of  the  Scriptures 
indicate  danger.  We  are  commanded  to  "hold  fast 
that  we  have,"  "to  strengthen  the  things  which  re- 
main," "to  add  to  our  faith,"  and  "to  endure  unto 
the  end." 

Many  people  are  looking  for  wonders — want  to 
be  wonders  themselves,  instead  of  letting  Christ 
keep  his  name,  "wonderful — and  for  miracles, 
demonstrations,  rather  than  for  the  living  God  as 
revealed  in  Christ  Jesus.  These  are  days  of  re- 
ligious tramps,  that  are  not,  and  do  not  want  to 
be  responsible  to  any  church  organization  for  their 
conduct  or  their  teaching.  These  people  profess 
to  have  wonderful  revelations  from  God,  and  pro- 
fess to  be  called  to  start  some  new  religious  move- 
ment in  this  day  of  the  Church's  apostasy — as 
they  are  pleased  to  call  it — and  thereby  save  the  king- 
dom of  God  from  being  utterly  overthrown.  They 
invite  and  cultivate  the  spectacular,  the  sign  and 
wonder  quality  of  their  religion,  as  proof  of  its 
genuineness,  and  thereby  sometimes  change  a  church 
or  hall  into  a  spectatorium. 

There  seems  to  be  almost  no  end  to  the  multi- 
plication of  religious   fakes,  a  kind  of  asceticism, 

110 


The  Importance  of  Being  Securely  Anchored 

that  is  more  or  less  appealing  to  a  certain  class 
given  to  psychical  phenomena,  and  a  strange  emo- 
tionalism that  sweeps  its  victims  into  the  grossest 
errors  and  the  most  absurd  and  ridiculous  prac- 
tices, sometimes  ending  in  the  asylum  or  in  suicide. 

Recently  there  came  to  notice  the  following  from 
Evangelist  Scoville,  wrtten  from  Bridgeport,  Con- 
necticut; "There  is  a  great  sorrow  often  filling 
my  heart  when  I  see  how  Satan  has  come  into  some 
of  the  little  flocks  as  an  angel  of  light,  and  has 
deceived  many  and  some  he  has  destroyed.  I  was 
in  a  meeting  some  time  ago  when  there  was  a 
woman  crawling  around  the  floor,  and  snapping  and 
barking  like  a  mad  dog,  and  they  said  she  was 
filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  they  were  most  of 
them  very  intent  in  listening  to  receive  a  message 
from  God  through  her.  A  dear  sister,  who  was 
once  a  very  devoted  Christian,  and  a  member  of 
the  Methodist  Church,  attended  these  meetings,  be- 
came so  distracted  and  beside  herself  ,that  'she 
destroyed  her  Bible.  Another  became  so  violently 
insane  that  she  was  taken  to  an  institution  where 
she  died  in  a  few  days." 

These  are  sad  and  sickening  things,  and  most 
painful  to  chronicle.  But  the  relief  is  that  this  is 
not  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  does  not  rep- 
resent the  life  of  Jesus  Christ  in  the  believer.  The 
very  opposite  is  true.  Paul  in  his  greeting  to  Tim- 
othy said,  "God  has  not  given  us  the  spirit  of  fear; 
but  of  power,  and  of  love,  and  of  a  sound  mind." 
These  delusions  come  from  unsafe,  mistaken,  and, 
sometim.es,  deluded  leaders ;  men  that  for  one 
reason  and  another  have  fallen  out  with  the  church 

111 


The  Exalted  Life 

of  their  choice — whose  agencies  were  first  owned  in 
their  conversion,  and  that  gave  them  a  credible 
standing  among  men — and  became  its  revilers  and 
if  possible  destroyers. 

The  effort  of  these  leaders  is  to  get  hold  of 
a  class  of  humble,  honest,  zealous  people,  who  want 
to  live  the  best  life  that  is  known,  and  get  them 
to  believe  that  they  are  not  right,  that  their  re- 
ligion is  spurious,  and  now  that  new  light  has 
come  there  is  something  niuch  truer  and  better 
than  the  old.  They  are  persuaded  to  throw  away 
the  old  and  accept  the  new,  of  which  they  are  the 
only  qualified  exponents. 

What  havoc  has  been  wrought  on  this  line! 
How  many  local  churches  have  been  ruptured, 
their  harmony  destroyed,  their  members  made 
aliens  and  bitter  enemies  of  each  other,  all  ac- 
cepting such  leadership  finally  reining  up  under  a 
false,  a  bogus  religion.  How  many  days  and  weeks 
and  even  months  have  been  spent  by  individuals  in 
crying  for  power,  for  some  remarkable  demonstra- 
tion, the  smiting  of  some  thunderbolt,  the  bestow- 
ment  of  some  marvelous  gift,  like  speaking  with 
tongues,  and  when  these  physical  demonstrations 
appear,  accept  them  at  once  as  discrediting  all  previ- 
ous experiences,  and  verifying  all  the  new  as  being 
the  only  genuine. 

How  many  have  reined  up  in  utter  failure  on 
this  line,  having  not  found  what  they  sought  for, 
and  as  a  consequence  have  renounced  all  faith  in 
Christianity  and  become  mental,  moral,  and  phy- 
sical wrecks.  A  pitiful  picture  to  paint;  but  in 
harmony  with  many  scriptural  warnings,  to  which 

112 


The  Importance  of  Being  Securely  Anchored 

honest,  anxious,  modern  Christians  do  well  to  take 
heed,  "as  unto  a  light  that  shineth  in  a  dark 
place." 

What  is  sadder  than  the  wrecking  and  ruining 
of  a  sane,  safe,  joyous,  religious  experience?  This 
havoc  of  religious  life,  this-  fanatical  cry  for  dem- 
onstrations, has  been  spreading  to  an  alarming  de- 
gree. May  we  hope  that  the  worst  is  past?  This 
might  well  be  the  cry  and  the  prayer;  but  there 
is  a  word  that  says,  "But  evil  men  and  seducers 
shall  wax  worse  and  worse,  deceiving  and  being 
deceived."  Here  we  have  spiritual  jugglery,  wily 
imposters,  doing  the  work  of  Satan.  Under  their 
leadership  things  go  from  bad  to  worse.  The  de- 
ception is  mutual.  They  not  only  deceive  others, 
but  their  own  deception  increases  as  they  go  for- 
ward. The  ruin  finally  becomes  general,  over- 
taking both  the  leader  and  his  followers. 

Jesus  gives  warning  of  these  days  in  the  twenty- 
fourth  chapter  of  Matthew.  He  says,  "And  many 
false  prophets  shall  arise,  and  shall  deceive  many." 
"And  because  iniquity  shall  abound,  the  love  of 
m.any  shall  wax  cold."  In  this  connection  I  would 
not  be  understood  as  speaking  against  spiritual 
progress,  but  as  one  that  loves  the  Church  and 
desires  her  future  welfare,  I  give  warning.  It  re- 
quires only  a  casual  survey  of  the  field  to  see  the 
importance  of  not  giving  heed  to  seductive  teachers. 
On  this  line  Dowieism  can  speak  in  Chicago,  Illi- 
nois ;  the  tongues  movement  in  Los  Angeles,  Cali- 
fornia; the  "Pillar  of  Fire"  movement  in  Denver, 
Colorado;  the  Creffield  tragedy — "Holyrollerism" — 
in  Seattle,  Washington ;  Ryanism  in  Salem,  Oregon, 

113 


The  Exalted  Life 

and  Frank  W.  Sanford— called  ''Eli jab"  by  bis 
followers,  tbe  "Holy  Gbost  and  Us"  movement, 
near   Lisbon  Falls,   Maine. 

Out  of  some  of  tbese  bave  come  awful  tragedies, 
all  in  tbe  name  of  tbe  bigbest  type  of  living;  but 
in  fact  in  many  instances  the  lowest.  As  tbe  result 
of  lionest  delusion — possibly  true  in  most  cases  at 
tbe  beginning — tbere  are  wrecked  bomes,  loss  of 
life,  murder,  imprisonments,  starvation,  wrecking 
disappointments,  and  tbe  utter  overthrow  of  a  once 
genuine   faitb  and  a  blessed   Christian  experience. 

Because  of  these  things  I  bave  personally  become 
utterly  at  variance  with  a  lax,  namby-pamby  sort 
of  church  adherence.  I  also  bave  become  shy  of 
that  class  of  religious  teachers  and  leaders  that  dis- 
avow church  membership,  and  for  this  reason  call 
themselves  broad  and  liberal,  and  ready  to  work 
with,  and  for  any  religious  organization.  I  have 
usually  found  them  very  free  to  denounce  tbe 
churches,  to  decry  church  relationship,  and  church 
creeds.  They  forget  that  the  Church  is  where  they 
came  from  professionally  and  officially,  and  but 
for  the  existence  of  what  they  are  so  free  to  de- 
nounce, they  would  not  have  a  chance  to  export 
their  latest  and  newest  dogma.  I  have  also  ob- 
served that  such  independent  leaders  can  spread 
their  special  propaganda,  throw  a  society  and  com- 
munity into  deepest  ferment,  divide  and  split  a 
church  into  fragments  that  was  hitherto  living  in 
peace  and  barmon}^  and  then  get  up  and  go  away 
in  a  spirit  of  great  triumph  over  tbe  work  done,  and 
leave  tbe  pastor  and  church  membership  to  fight 
it  out.    Aud  a  fight  it  is!     But  who  wants  what  is 

114 


The  Importance  of  Being  Securely  Anchored 

left  when  it  is  all  over  with?  It  could  hardly  be 
reported  on  as  favorably  as  a  coroner's  jury  re- 
ported on  a  man  that  was  blown  up  in  a  mill,  which 
read,  "He  was  a  man  of  excellent  parts." 

The  Church,  as  an  organism,  meets  a  great 
divine  purpose  in  its  existence,  and  its  unity  and 
harmony  should  be  conserved  in  ever}^  way  possible 
of  divine  approval.  There  will  be  differences  in 
many  ways,  but  these  need  not  necessarily  occa- 
sion division.  In  the  family  circle  we  may  see 
the  Church  in  embryo.  In  the  Old  Testament 
the  Church  began  in  the  family  of  Abraham.  In 
the  New  Testament  it  began  in  the  new  family  re- 
lationship which  Jesus  established  as  given  in  Mat- 
thew 12:49,  50.  Here  God  is  the  Father  (St. 
John  1:  13)  and  all  who  are  born  of  him  are  bap- 
tized by  the  Holy  Spirit  into  one  body.  (I.  Cor- 
inthians 12:13.)  In  verse  27,  Paul  says,  *'Now 
ye  are  the  body  of  Christ,  and  members  in  partic- 
ular." In  Ephesians  3:  14,  15,  he  calls  the  Church 
universal,  all  God's  people,  a  family,  saying,  "For 
this  purpose  I  bow  my  knees  unto  the  Father  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  of  whom  the  whole  family 
[every  family]  in  heaven  and  earth  is  named." 

Now,  as  a  family,  it  may  well  represent  all  ages, 
from  the  youngest  to  the  most  advanced  in  years ; 
also  all  stages  of  development,  physical,  mental, 
moral,  and  spiritual,  ranging  from  the  babe  to  the 
first-born. 

No  wise,  sane  and  safe  leader  and  teacher  in 
religious  tenets  can  decry  the  utility  of  church 
organizations.  This  may  be  over  done,  or  under 
done,  or  fraudulently  done,  but  this  would  be  only 

115 


The  Exalted  Life 

an  abuse  of  a  good  thing  and  a  wise  method.  To 
do  away  with  church  organization  would  be  to 
discredit  all  human  organization.  It  would  strike 
down  and  blot  out  the  family  relation,  the  oldest 
and  best  of  all  organizations.  This  relation  was 
established  in  Eden,  and  is  one  of  the  only  two 
institutions  that  survived  the  wreck  and  ruin  of 
the  fall — the  family  and  the  Sabbath. 

Organization  was  the  divine  ideal  for  the  race  at 
the  beginning,  and  that  ideal  has  been  maintained 
through  all  the  centuries.  This  is  vv^ell  expressed 
by  the  psalmist,  "God  setteth  the  solitary  in  fami- 
lies ;  that  is,  he  breaks  solitude  with  society.  He 
puts  the  lonely  one  into  fellowship  with  others. 
This  is  the  highest  ideal  for  the  race.  The  family  is 
the  basis,  the  very  cornerstone  of  both  church 
and  state.  It  is  the  great  and  mighty  conserva- 
tion of  racial  purity  and  racial  perpetuity.  Do  away 
with  the  family  and  everything  goes  into  social 
sludge. 

To  do  away  with  church  organization  is  to  put 
it  on  a  level  with  the  destruction  of  marriage  re- 
lation and  the  family.  It  would  be  to  inaugurate 
a  system  of  free-love,  blotting  out  all  disregard 
of  social  propriety,  and  becoming  unduly  familiar, 
indelicate,  or  immodest.  What  condition  of  things 
would  obtain  in  society  if  such  sentiments  were  to 
become  prevalent  and  influential  ?  That  this  social 
leaven  is  spreading  is  very  apparent  as  seen  in  the 
laxness  of  the  marriage  bonds  and  divorce  legisla- 
tion. The  most  fraudulent  shams  are  enacted  on 
these  lines — marriage  and  divorce. 

116 


The  Importance  of  Being  Securely  Anchored 

Now,  is  there  anything  like  this  in  the  teaching 
that  would  do  away  with  church  organizations, 
denominationalism,  and  allow  a  kind  of  free-and- 
easy  system  to  obtain  ?  a  kind  of  free-love  sys- 
tem in  religious  matters?  Has  not  something  like 
this  protruded  its  head  above  the  ecclesiastical  sea 
in  recent  days  and  whispered  its  desire  to  be  heard 
and  to  have  a  place  in  the  great  religious  arena? 
Such  is  a  recent  occurrence  in  the  city  of  Chicago. 
This  strange  cult  would  do  away  with  the  family, 
and  would  have  a  strange  religious  affinity  take  its 
place,  and  on  this  high  and  exalted  plane  of  living 
generate  a  new  race,  holy  by  natural  generation! 
The  same  is  true,  I  am  told,  at  Benton  Harbor, 
Michigan,  where  the  "House  of  David''  is  being 
established. 

H  this  is  not  the  doctrine  of  demons  where  will 
you  find  it?  This  is  to  do  away  with  spiritual 
regeneration,  and  substitute  natural  generation  in 
its  stead,  only  on  this  higher  plane  of  spiritual 
affinity.  Paul's  warning  to  Timothy,  giving  him 
some  of  the  characteristics  of  the  latter  times, 
may  well  be  taken  as  timely  admonition  for  our 
day  touching  the  subject  of  marriage.  He  says 
to  Timothy,  "That  in  the  latter  times  some  shall 
depart  from  the  faith,  giving  heed  to  seducing  spir- 
its, and  doctrines  of  devils;  speaking  lies  in  hypoc- 
risy; having  their  conscience  seared  with  a  hot 
iron;  forbidding  to  marry."     (L  Timothy  4:1-3.) 

Here  forbidding  to  marry  is  put  among  the 
doctrines  of  devils.  As  previously  stated,  if  the 
family  can  be  blotted  out,  away  goes  everything 
that  is  good.     The  family  as  an  organization  must 

117 


The  Exalted  Life 

be  kept  up,  and  its  purity  safeguarded,  or  all  goes 
into  absolute  ruin.  God  has  put  it  in  and  made 
it  a  part  of  this  probationary  life  in  order  to  pre- 
serve the  whole  world  from  overthrow.  It  was 
the  family  organization  that  gave  this  world  a 
second  probation,  or  a  new  start  after  the  judgment 
flood.  All  the  future  was  centered  in  that  family. 
It  was  the  whole  of  humanity  when  in  the  ark.  So 
God  has  always  taken  great  care  of  the  family,  for 
out  of  it  all  goodness  and  individual  greatness 
comes. 

Now,  as  the  family  must  be  kept  as  a  distinct 
human  organization — though  divine  in  its  origin — 
and  not  be  blotted  out  and  lose  itself  in  a  con- 
glomerate or  heterogeneous  mass  of  humanity, 
so  the  militant  Church,  in  order  to  conserve  its 
purity  and  power,  and  become  an  agent  of  conquest, 
must  conform  itself  to  some  rules  and  regulations, 
and  have  some  center  of  authoritative  appeal.  It 
may  be  said  that  Christ  is  the  head  and  source  of 
appeal,  and  so  he  is,  but  we  now  and  here  "have 
this  treasure  in  earthen  vessels,"  and  so  there  must 
of  necessity  be  a  measure  of  conformity  to  this 
earthly  sphere.  Wq  cannot  be  all  heavenly  here. 
We  must  wait  until  we  reach  the  heavenly  state 
for  such  a  perfect  consummation.  Take  the  family 
as  the  illustration  again. 

The  family  must  be  earthly  while  it  is  here.  I 
do  not  mean  sensually  earthly  in  the  bad  use  of 
that  word,  but  it  must  live  in  the  sphere  of  flesh 
and  blood  while  it  maintains  its  earthly  existence. 
There  are  a  class  of  people  that  have  the  notion 
that  in  order  to  be  pure  they  must  ignore  the  most 

118 


The  Importance  of  Being  Securely  Anchored 

sacred  function  of  marriage,  the  production  of 
off-spring.  I  knew  a  case  of  that  kind.  I  was 
in  the  home  once  or  tw^ice  on  a  brief  item  of 
business.  The  wife  of  the  house,  with  a  lady  com- 
panion she  kept  with  her,  spent  much  of  their  time, 
both  day  and  night,  in  prayer.  The  husband  spent 
most  of  the  time  down  in  the  city  at  his  work.  He 
stayed  most  of  the  time  down  in  the  city,  as  his 
home  was  not  a  home  to  him.  These  things  were 
told  to  me  by  the  person  that  owned  the  house;  so 
it  is  not  a  phantasm. 

Now,  both  of  these  people  wanted  to  be  good. 
The  wife  wanted  to  be  the  purest  type  of  Christian 
character ;  but  what  a  delusion,  to  ignore  the  divine 
order  in  creation  in  order  to  live  a  Hfe  of  purity. 
Here  is  the  snare  of  the  enemy.  If  he  cannot  break 
down  the  marriage  relation  and  have  all  things 
common,  then  he  will  annul  it,  if  possible,  by  creat- 
ing the  conviction  that  the  highest  type  of  purity 
can  be  reached  only  by  living,  though  married,  as 
a  celibate.  Let  it  be  noted  that  this  relation  can  never 
become  so  spiritual  as  to  do  away  with  the  flesh. 
This  can  obtain  in  heaven  only;  for  there  "they 
neither  marry,  nor  are  given  in  marriage,  but  are 
as  the  angels  of  God  in  heaven."  But  here  there 
is  a  union  of  flesh,  which  union  is  by  the  divine 
order.  'Tor  this  cause" — because  male  and  female 
— "shall  a  man  leave  father  and  mother,  and  shall 
cleave  to  his  wife :  and  they  tw^ain  shall  be  one 
flesh.  Wherefore  they  are  no  more  twain,  but  one 
flesh." 

Now,  as  the  family  has  its  earthly  sphere,  and 
must  in  a  sense  be  separate  and  distinct  from  everv 

119 


The  Exalted  Life 

Other  family  in  order  to  its  unity  and  its  highest 
good,  so  the  mihtant  Church  must  have  for  its 
unity  and  most  effective  service  an  independent,  or- 
ganic, constructive  existence.  It  would  be  unlike 
anything  else  in  the  world  if  it  did  not  have. 

Then  you  may  say,  You  would  not  have  all  or- 
ganizations blended  into  one  organic  whole?  No; 
not  any  more  than  I  would  have  all  families  merged 
into  one  family,  or  all  the  States  of  this  Union 
merged  into  one  State.  Here  diversity  is  the  secret 
of  unity.  Put  a  dozen  families  into  one  house,  and 
let  them  try  to  live  together  and  maintain  their 
independence  and  distinctive  principles,  and  unity 
will  soon  be  at  an  end.  But  put  them  under  sepa- 
rate roofs,  with  alleys,  and  lanes  between,  and  they 
may  always  be  good  neighbors. 

So  with  the  militant  Church.  There  may  be  many 
divisions,  organically,  like  there  is  in  a  great  army, 
and  yet  the  most  perfect  unity  and  the  most  effi- 
cient service.  One  chief  commander,  but  many  sub- 
alterns. 

The  cry  upon  the  part  of  independent,  anti- 
church  leaders  is  for  more  power.  A  very  proper 
and  scriptural  cry;  but  in  order  to  this  they  advo- 
cate withdrawal  from  the  Church;  classing  the 
churches  as  all  fallen  and  apostate,  and  all  that 
would  be  right  must  come  out  of  them.  Oh,  the 
delusion!  How  many,  once  warm  and  devoted 
members  of  the  Church  are  to-day  living  in  spirit- 
ual anarchy,  hating  and  bitterly  denouncing  what 
they  once  so  ardently  loved;  displaying  a  spirit 
so  utterly  unlike  the  character  of  the  dove,  the 
symbol  of  the  Holy  Spirit.     They  now  display  the 

120 


The  Importance  of  Being  Securely  Anchored 

beak  and  talons  of  the  eagle.  They  would  tear 
every  church  into  fragments,  as  previously  stated 
in  this  chapter,  and  scatter  all  that  they  have  done 
to  the  winds.  Is  the  motive  a  good  one  ?  or  is  it  be- 
cause they  have  failed,  become  jealous,  because  en- 
vious, deluded,  and  have  cast  away  their  confidence? 
I  read  of  a  minister — and  he  is  only  one  of  many — 
that  said  he  had  been  deceived,  and  that  he  was 
now  seeking  the  Holy  Ghost.  When  asked  how 
he  would  know  when  he  got  the  Holy  Ghost  he 
replied  that  he  would  know  it  by  speaking  in 
tongues.     To  what  was  that  man's  faith  anchored? 

H  churches,  as  organizations,  are  all  wrong, 
and  only  this  small  company,  so  peculiarly  at  va- 
riance wath  them,  are  the  only  ones  that  are  right, 
then  what  a  hopeless  view  of  the  Christian  world 
they  must  have,  and  what  a  prodigious  task  they 
have  on  their  hands  to  get  things  right!  What  a 
dark  view  of  Christ's  work  after  nineteen  hundred 
years  of  battle,  and  what  a  success  is  accorded  to 
Satan  for  the  way  he  has  held  the  field  through 
the  centuries  !     Who  believes  it  ? 

Why  did  not  Caleb  and  Joshua  leave  the  Church 
because  of  its  unbelief  and  rebellion,  and  go  into 
Canaan  at  once?  Why  stay  with  that  defeated,  re- 
jected, wandering  church  for  forty  years?  What 
would  have  happened  to  Israel  if  they  had  not 
stayed  with  them?  Later  though  it  was,  they  led 
this  wandering  host  into  the  land  of  promise. 
What  a  blessed  thing  that  these  two  men  did  not 
take  the  stand  of  "come-outers,"  and  thus  defeat, 
so  far  as  we  can  see,  the  divine  scheme  for  Israel's 
redemption.     They  were  God's  people,  and  God's 

121 


The  Exalted  Life 

men  stayed  with  them  to  lead  and  guide  them  to 
final  victory. 

What  will  these  hasty,  desultory  movements 
amount  to,  compared  with  centuries  of  organized 
church  life,  with  all  the  discipline  and  experience  of 
these  centuries  ?  I  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  as 
questioning  the  motives  of  those  leading  in  these 
independent  movements,  but  the  wisdom.  If  the 
Holy  Spirit  is  leading  the  movements,  then  why 
the  sad  disasters  that  in  so  many  instances  attend 
them? 

What  enterprise  can  be  carried  forward  success- 
fully without  organization,  concentration,  and  dis- 
cipline? How  could  the  cause  of  missions,  educa- 
tion, and  other  great  church  enterprises  be  car- 
ried forward  without  systematic  co-operation? 
What  would  these  sporadic,  independent  movements 
do  but  for  the  field  of  opportunity  that  the  organ- 
ized churches  that  are  already  in  the  field  furnish 
them?  Here  are  church  buildings  with  large  or- 
ganized memberships  that  furnish  an  open  door 
of  opportunity  for  those  that  seem  to  have  little 
conviction  for  the  salvation  of  those  outside  of 
the  churches;  and  in  order  to  succeed  in  the 
endeavor  to  build  up  out  of  this  material  there 
must  be  the  exploiting  of  some  new  doctrine,  or 
some  phase  of  the  supernatural — some  gift,  some 
physical  demonstrations,  or  some  wonderful  vision 
— that  will  be  startling  and  awe-inspiring  to  those 
whose  religious  experience  is  confined  to,  and  that 
operates  through  their  self-consciousness,  the  soul. 
Here  is  the  field  and  realm  of  danger.  Here  the 
emotions   play   sa.d   havoc  with   the   faith   and   re- 

122 


The  Importance  of  Being  Securely  Anchored 

ligioiis  experience  of  many.  They  transfer  their 
faith  from  God  and  his  Word  to  their  feehngs, 
and  to  signs  and  wonders.  They  build  out  of 
material  that  is  as  incapable  of  standing  the  tests 
as  the  wood,  hay,  and  stubble  is  of  standing  the 
test  of  the  purging  fire. 

Now,  what  should  be  the  attitude  of  Christians, 
of  the  churches  in  general  toward  these  questionable 
movements?  I  cannot  give  a  better  answer  than 
that  given  by  Mr.  Spurgeon  some  twenty-five  years 
ago: 

'Tt  now  becomes  a  serious  question  how  far  those 
v/ho  abide  b}-  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints 
should  fraternize  with  those  who  have  turned  aside 
to  another  gospel.  Christian  love  has  its  claims, 
and  divisions  are  to  be  shunned  as  grievous  evils ; 
but  how  far  are  we  justified  in  being  in  confeder- 
acy with  those  who  are  departing  from  the  faith  ? 

"With  steadfast  faith  let  us  take  our  places;  not 
in  anger,  nor  in  the  spirit  of  suspicion  or  division, 
but  in  watchfulness  and  resolve.  Let  us  not  pre- 
tend to  a  fellowship  which  we  do  not  feel,  or 
hide  convictions  which  are  burning  our  hearts. 
The  times  are  perilous  and  the  responsibility  of 
every  individual  believer  is  a  burden  which  we 
must  bear  or  prove  a  traitor." 

These  are  days  when  Christians  especially 
Christian  ministers,  should  stand  by  the  fundamen- 
tal truths  emphasized  by  a  number  of  ministers 
in  Brooklyn,  New  York;  namely,  "The  preexis- 
tence,  virgin  birth,  and  deity  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ;  his  substantial  atonement,  bodily  resur- 
rection and  personal  visible  return ;  the  personality 

123 


The  Exalted  Life 


and  ministry  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  inspiration 
and  divine  authority  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and 
the  urgency   of   world-wide  evangelization." 


124 


CHAPTER  X. 

The  Divine   Sonship,   Its   Significance. 

As  Dr.  G.  Campbell  Morgan  said  in  Dayton, 
Ohio,  a  few  years  ago,  the  next  great  battle  to 
be  fought  will  be  over  the  divine  sonship.  The 
battle  is  already  raging,  and  Christian  people  that 
want  to  be  right  must  look  to  their  anchorage. 
When  whole  denominations  deny  the  deity  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  it  is  well  for  orthodox  churches 
to  take  heed  that  they  be  not  deceived. 

Recently  one  of  the  professors  in  one  of  our 
universities,  head  of  the  department  of  English 
literature,  gave  public  utterance,  as  reported,  to  the 
following:  'Tf  Christ  was  not  a  man,  as  we  are, 
then  God,  who  was  his  Father  is  not  our  Father, 
in  the  same  sense.  Observe  that  Jesus  taught 
us  to  pray  to  our  Father,  but  not  to  his  Father. 
Everywhere  he  teaches  you  that  God  is  our  Father ; 
nowhere  does  he  set  any  limitation  to  that,  or  give 
the  phrase  any  special  or  unusual  meaning.  Christ 
bids  us  be  perfect;  but  we  cannot,  we  are  only 
men."  Hear  it  again:  *'*God  is  our  Father,  with 
whom  we  should  have  the  same  unity  that  Christ 
had."  Once  again :  ''This  doctrine  that  Christ 
was  a  God,  and  the  only  begotten  Son  of  God,  the 
Father,  will  leave  us  fatherless,  orphans,  or  perhaps 
worse,  stepchildren  of  a  stern  stepfather,  and  cer- 
tain of  harsh  dealings  at  his  hands,  except  his  own 
son  be  prevailed  on  to  intercede  for  us." 

125 


The  Exalted  Life 

To  me  these  words  sound  blasphemous,  for  they 
degrade  both  Christ  and  his  Father.  Some  of 
these  writers  and  teachers  on  the  deity  of  Christ 
defame  both  Christ  and  his  mother  by  making  Christ 
illegitimate  and  his  mother  dissolute.  In  dealing 
with  the  subject,  the  greatest  possible  perspicuity  is 
desirable;  but  with  all  the  light  possible  of  obtain- 
ment,  it  must  be  admitted  that  great  mystery  still 
veils  it;  but  does  this  make  it  false  and  unworthy 
of  acceptance?  If  so,  then  we  must  pity  the  man 
that  is  born  of  woman,  the  child  that  has  to  grow, 
the  man  that  has  to  eat  food,  drink  water,  breathe 
air,  home  electricity  in  his  body,  carry  a  heart- 
pump  to  distribute  his  blood  to  prolong  his  life; 
even  the  scholar  that  turns  his  eye  within  to  scan 
his  own  life,  and  then  without  to  the  heavens  above, 
if,  in  order  to  life  and  happiness,  he  must  solve 
all  the  mysteries  connected  with  these  things.  In 
this  connection  will  the  reader  please  read  the 
thirty-eighth  chapter  of  Job,  for  an  answer  to  ob- 
jectors to  truth  on  the  ground  of  mysteries. 

Everything  on  the  line  of  man's  recovery  from 
sin  here  and  his  final  endless  blessedness  in  the 
hereafter,  hinges  on  the  nature,  character,  and 
work  of  Jesus  Christ,  our  Lord.  If  Jesus  was 
anything  less  than  he  said  he  was,  then  he  was  a 
deceiver,  and  the  whole  scheme  of  redemption  falls 
through,  and  we  are  of  all  men  the  most  miserable. 
That  Jesus  was  human  all  admit,  and  so  no 
defense  of  the  statement  is  needed  in  this  con- 
nection. The  scriptural  statement  is,  "The  Word 
was  made  flesh."  This  is  accepted;  but  Christ  was 
divine — human.     Man  is  only  human,  and  cannot 

126 


The  Divine   Sonship,   Its   Significance 

be  anything  else  until  made  a  partaker  of  the  divine 
nature.  Even  the  first  man,  the  head  of  the  race, 
was  classed  as  earthly.  *'The  first  man  is  of  the 
earth,  earthy;  the  second  man  is  the  Lord  from 
heaven."  (I.  Corinthians  15:47-50.)  Is  there  not 
a  very  marked  difiference  in  origin?  The  first  man 
is  of  the  earth;  the  second  man  is  the  Lord  from 
heaven.  The  one  has  an  earthly  designation,  noth- 
ing more ;  the  other  has  both  the  earthly  and  a 
heavenly,  called  "the  Lord  from  heaven."  The 
first  is  called  "natural" ;  that  "afterward"  is  called 
"spiritual."  This  designation  is  kept  up  in  the  de- 
scendants of  each.  "As  is  the  earthy,  such  are  they 
also  that  are  earthy ;  and  as  is  the  heavenly,  such 
are  they  also  that  are  heavenly,"  Paul  makes  this 
distinction  very  marked  when  he  says,  "And  as  we 
have  borne  the  image  of  the  earthy,  we  shall  also 
bear  the  image  of  the  heavenly." 

In  these  Scriptures  the  two  heads  of  the  two 
orders  of  humanity  are  made  so  marked  in  their 
distinction,  the  one  from  the  other,  that  there  seems 
no  grounds  for  questioning  the  superiority  of  the 
one  over  the  other.  The  one  man,  the  other  divine- 
man  ;  the  one  had  his  origin  and  being  on  the  earth 
only,  the  other  had  his  being  in  both  heaven  and 
on  earth,  and  belonging  to  both. 

Hear  what  Jesus  says  of  himself :  "And  no 
man  hath  ascended  up  to  heaven,  but  he  that  came 
down  from  heaven,  even  the  Son  of  man  which  is  in 
heaven."  "He  that  cometh  down  from  above  is 
above  all ;  he  that  is  of  the  earth  is  earthly."  This 
perfectly  matches  Paul's  description  as  given  above, 
"I  came  down  from  heaven,  not  to  do  mine  own 

127 


The  Exalted  Life 

will,  but  the  will  of  him  that  sent  me."  Again : 
''If  ye  had  known  me,  ye  should  have  known  my 
Father  also ;  and  henceforth  ye  know  him,  and  have 
seen  him."  "He  that  hath  seen  me  hath  seen  the 
Father."  *'Ye  call  me  Master  and  Lord ;  and  ye 
say  well ;  for  so  I  am."  Once  more,  "Ye  are  from 
beneath ;  I  am  from  above ;  ye  are  of  this  world ; 
I  am  not  of  this  world."  Speaking  of  his  disciples 
he  said,  "They  are  not  of  this  world,  even  as  I  am 
not  of  the  world." 

Here  Jesus  reveals  a  new  race,  a  new  order  of 
humanity,  having  a  heavenly  origin  and  thus  ally- 
ing them  with  himself;  and  for  this  purpose  he 
prayed  for  their  separation  and  purification. 

The  dual-nature  of  Christ,  human  and  divine,  is 
clearly  indicated  in  the  names  given  to  him  in  the 
Scriptures.  When  he  was  born  he  was  named 
"Jesus."  This  was  his  human  name,  and  clearly  in- 
dicated his  mission  as  Savior,  "for  he  shall  save  his 
people  from  their  sins !"  The  second  name  by 
wdiich  he  is  called  is  "Christ."  He  was  so  called  by 
the  woman  of  Samaria,  and  Jesus  confirmed  it  in  his 
reply  to  her.  The  woman  said,  "I  know  that  the 
Messiah  cometh,  which  is  called  Christ;  v/hen  he  is 
come,  he  will  tell  us  all  things.  Jesus  saith  unto 
her,  I  that  speak  unto  thee  am  he." 

This  name  means  the  anointed  one,  the  same 
as  Messiah,  as  used  by  Daniel,  ninth  chapter  and 
twenty-sixth  verse.  This  name  connects  him  with 
the  priestly  and  prophetic  offices,  and  so  may  be 
regarded  as  his  official  name,  putting  him  on  a 
plane  higher  than  the  merely  human. 

128 


The  Divine  Sonsliip,   Its   Significance 

The  third  name  is  "Lord,"  his  divine  name,  and 
connects  him  with  the  work  of  creation.  'Thou, 
Lord,  in  the  beginning  hast  laid  the  foundation  of 
the  earth;  and  the  heavens  are  the  works  of  thine 
hands."  (Hebrews  1 :  10.)  John  says,  ''All  things 
were  made  by  him;  and  without  him  was  not  any- 
thing made  that  was  made." 

Before  passing  to  further  note  Christ's  pre- 
existence,  it  is  worthy  of  a  moment's  pause  to  note 
the  number  of  times  that  the  name  "Jesus"  is  used 
more  than  the  name  "Christ."  Jesus,  the  human 
name,  is  used  some  six  hundred  and  seventy  times, 
while  Christ,  the  official  appellation,  is  used  only  or 
about  three  hundred  times.  Then  these  names  are 
used  interchangeably,  Christ  Jesus,  and  Jesus  Christ, 
but  not  nearly  as  often  as  singly.  The  number  of 
times  that  the  name  "Lord"  is  used,  as  applied  to 
Jesus,  is  very  difficult  to  determine,  as  it  is  so 
often  used  interchangeably  with  God,  the  Father, 
and  runs  into  the  thousands  numerically. 

Now,  as  to  the  preexistence  of  Christ,  it  is  well 
worth  our  thought  to  note  what  he  says  of  this 
himself.  In  John  8:  58,  he  says,  "Before  Abraham 
was,  I  am."  Note,  he  does  not  say.  Before  Abraham 
was,  I  was ;  but  I  am.  This  takes  us  back  to  Exo- 
dus 3 :  14,  where  God  in  addressing  Moses,  and  tell- 
ing him  what  to  say  to  Pharaoh,  said,  "I  AM 
hath  sent  me."  This  is  expressed  in  Colossians 
2 : 9,  "In  him  dwelt  all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead 
bodily."  In  John  10:30,  Jesus  says,  "I  and  my 
Father  are  one."  In  this  connection  turn  to  John 
14 :  7-10.  Here  Jesus  asserts  that  "he  that  hath  seen 
me  hath  seen  the  Father." 

129 


The  Exalted  Life 

Here  we  of  necessity  are  confronted  with  the 
mystery  of  the  trinity — three  persons  in  one — three 
persons  in  action,  but  only  one  in  being.  This  three- 
fold personality  is  strikingly  illustrated  when  Jesus 
was  baptized.  (Luke  3:21,  22.)  Here  Jesus  was 
the  subject,  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  anointer,  came 
down,  and  God,  the  Father,  by  a  voice  from  heaven 
commended  Jesus  as  "his  beloved  Son."  Here  are 
the  three  modes  of  action  and  manifestation,  but 
only  one  being. 

We  have  in  man  what  writers  have  been  pleased 
to  characterize  as  a  trinity — body,  soul,  and  spirit. 
The  body  may  die,  as  it  will ;  the  mind  be  wrecked, 
as  it  sometimes  is,  and  the  spirit  go  to  God,  who 
gave  it.  The  body  is  not  the  man;  the  soul  is  not 
the  man ;  the  spirit  is  not  the  man ;  but  together  they 
make  the  man.    One  being,  in  action  manifold. 

It  must  be  readily  granted  that  the  revelation 
of  God  in  his  son  Jesus  Christ,  as  given  in  the 
New  Testament,  is  the  mystery  of  all  mysteries. 
It  is  expressed  as  a  mystery  in  the  Scriptures. 
"Great  is  the  mystery  of  godliness ;  God  manifest 
in  the  flesh."  Here  we  have  the  divine-human  God 
and  man  a  verity. 

As  previously  stated,  the  humanity  of  Jesus  is  ad- 
mitted, so  there  need  be  no  time  given  to  its  con- 
sideration. He  was  very  man.  He  had  a  human 
birth.  He  had  a  human  body,  he  grew,  ate,  slept; 
was  weary,  died,  was  buried,  was  resurrected,  and 
ascended  to  heaven,  all  in  bodily,  physical  mani- 
festations. Then  he  had  both  soul  and  spirit,  for 
we  read  of  his  being  troubled  in  soul,  and  of  his 
commending  his  spirit  to  his  Father  when  dying  on 

130 


The  Divine  Sonship,   Its   Significance 

the  cross.  So  he  was  a  perfect  man,  having  body, 
soul,  and  spirit. 

But  was  he  divine?  The  Scriptures  must  be 
our  source  of  appeal.  In  John  1:1,  3,  we  have  the 
most  unquestioning  evidence  of  the  deity  of  Jesus 
Christ.  'Tn  the  beginning  was  the  Word,  and  the 
Word  was  with  God,  and  the  Word  was  God." 
In  the  fourteenth  verse  of  this  same  chapter  we 
read,  "And  the  Word" — which  in  verse  one  is  called 
God — "was  made  flesh,  and  dwelt  among  us." 
"Word"  as  used  here  is  very  significant.  It  is  the 
expression  of  something.  With  us  we  use  writ- 
ing to  symbolize  sound;  so  that  instead  of  ex- 
pressing a  thought  by  sound  we  express  it  by  written 
characters.  This  mode  of  expression  borders  more 
on  the  literal,  the  materialistic.  While  writing 
symbolizes  sound,  sound  in  turn  symbolizes 
thought,  the  nearest  approach  that  is  possible  to  the 
spiritualistic  conception. 

Now,  as  thought  can  be  known  only  by  some 
sign  or  symbol,  so  the  divine  nature  and  character, 
being  spiritual,  can  be  revealed  only  by  some  di- 
vinely designated  mode  of  instrument  chosen  for 
that  purpose.  This  thought  is  made  clear  in  I.  John 
1:1,  where  we  read,  "That  which  was  from  the 
beginning  which  we  have  heard,  which  we  have  seen 
with  our  eyes,  which  we  have  looked  upon,  and  our 
hands  have  handled,  of  the  Word  of  life."  This 
life,  John  goes  on  to  show,  "was  manifested." 
Could  there  be  any  better  description  given  of  the 
divine  one,  as  revealed  in  Christ,  than  is  here  given? 
Thoughts  must  take  form.  Jesus  gave  form  and 
expression  to  God,  the  Father. 

131 


The  Exalted  Life 

This  same  character  is  spoken  of  by  John  in  Rev- 
elation 19:  13,  where  he  says,  "And  he  was  clothed 
in  a  vesture  dipped  in  blood :  and  his  name  is  called 
The  Word  of  God."  Here  is  the  world's  Redeemer 
clothed  in  a  robe  of  the  color  of  which  proclaims 
his  character  and  his  mission  to  all  the  worlds. 
His  vesture  tells  who  he  is.  He  is  followed  by 
armies,  mounted  on  white  horses,  and  clothed  in 
fine  linen,  white  and  pure.  These  soldiers  wore 
the  white  because  he  whom  they  followed  wore  the 
red.  Would  any  other  colored  horses  than  white  have 
been  becoming  to  these  armies  ?  Nothing  but  white 
will  do  when  following  this  ''King  of  kings,  and 
Lord  of  lords." 

In  further  designation  of  this  divine  character 
who  was  the  embodiment  of  the  perfections  and 
the  "collective  thought  of  God,"  we  read  that  he 
was  "the  power  of  God  and  the  wisdom  of  God." 
"It  pleased  the  Father  that  in  him  should  all  ful- 
ness dwell."  "In  him  are  hid  all  the  treasures  of 
wisdom  and  knowledge." 

His  preexistence,  his  eternity,  is  expressed  in  the 
words,  "All  things  were  made  by  him;  and  without 
him  was  not  anything  made  that  was  made."  Then 
the  worlds  were  made  by  him.  "All  things  were 
created  by  Jesus  Christ."  (Ephesians  3:9.)  Paul, 
in  his  letter  to  the  Philippians  says,  "Let  this  mind 
be  in  you,  which  v/as  also  in  Christ  Jesus :  who  be- 
ing in  the  form  of  God,  thought  it  not  robbery  to 
be  equal  with  God."  Jesus  prayed,  "And  now,  O 
Father,  glorify  thou  me  with  thine  own  self  with 
the  glory  which  I  had  with  thee  before  the  world 

132 


The  Divine   Sonship,   Its   Significance 

was."  Then  Christ  existed  before  the  earth  was 
created. 

In  the  first  chapter  of  Hebrews,  Christ's  pre- 
existence  and  his  supremacy  are  stated  in  the  clear- 
est and  strongest  language.  He  is  called  God's 
''Son,"  ''heir  of  all  things,"  "maker  of  the  worlds," 
"the  brightness'  of  the  divine  glory,"  "the  express 
image"  (substance)  of  the  divine  person,  "uphold- 
ing all  things  by  the  word  of  his  power,"  "made 
better  than  the  angels,"  called  "first-begotten,"  "an- 
gels to  worship  him."  To  his  own  Son  the  Father 
said,  "Thy  throne,  O  God,  is  forever  and  ever." 
Again,  "Thou,  Lord,  in  the  beginning  hast  laid  the 
foundation  of  the  earth ;  and  the  heavens  are  the 
works   of   thine  hands." 

The  foregoing  Scriptures  plainly  indicate  the 
character  of  Christ,  his  revelation  of  God,  the 
Father,  and  his  work  in  the  world's  redemption. 
Christ  was  not  only  the  manifestation  of  God  on 
earth,  but  he  was  God,  and  doing  God's  work  on 
earth.  This  his  disciples  were  slow  to  apprehend, 
as  seen  in  the  case  of  Philip;  but,  it  was  not  be- 
cause the  manifestations  were  not  sufficiently  clear, 
but  because  of  the  slowness  and  dullness  of  their 
hearts. 

That  Christ  is  more  than  human  is  well  verified 
by  the  mighty  revolutions  that  his  life  and  teach- 
ing have  wrought  among  the  nations  where  they 
have  gone.  Where  is  there  a  power  less  than 
divine,  that  could  have  wrought  the  changes  that 
are  so  marked  in  all  lands  where  the  gospel  mes- 
sage has  been  carried?  Think  of  the  millions  of 
lives  that  it  has  changed  and  made  new,  and  all  as 

133 


The  Exalted  Life 

the  result  of  the  spreading  of  the  Hfe  and  teachings 
of  this  one  strange  character.  Could  all  this  pro- 
ceed from  a  mere  man?  Is  there  nothing  convinc- 
ing and  appealing  in  the  personal,  conscious,  inner 
experience  of  these  millions?  How  can  this  man, 
if  only  a  man,  come  into  the  life  of  another, 
and  so  recreate  that  life  as  to  make  him  a  new 
creature?  Paul  says,  '*If  any  man  be  in  Christ, 
he  is  a  new  creature:  old  things  have  passed  away; 
behold,  all  things  are  become  new."  Again  he  says, 
"Christ  in  you,  the  hope  of  glory."  This  Paul 
calls  a  mystery,  and  so  it  is,  and  here  is  one  of  the 
evidences  of  its  divineness.  Can  a  mere  man  so 
take  possession  of  another  as  to  make  that  other 
his  abiding  place,  and  by  so  abiding  become  or  im- 
part to  him  this  wonderful  hope,  called  "the  hope 
of  glory"?  Can  a  man  make  anything  higher  than 
himself? 

God  is  a  spirit,  and  so  he  can  come  and  abide 
in  the  human  spirit;  but  how  can  Christ  so  abide 
if  he  is  only  human?  Did  he  not  say,  "Behold,  I 
stand  at  the  door,  and  knock;  if  any  man  hear 
my  voice  and  open  the  door,  I  will  come  into 
him,  and  will  sup  with  him  and  he  with  me"  ?  But 
how  can  he  if  he  is  not,  as  God,  a  spirit? 

It  is  on  this  plane  of  fellowship  with  Christ, 
in  a  spiritual  sense,  that  the  wonderful  transforma- 
tion in  the  world,  among  various  nationalities,  and 
the  millions  of  individuals,  have  obtained  and  been 
carried  forward.  Without  this  contact  with  Christ, 
this  transfusion  and  transmutation  of  his  divine 
life  into  the  human  life,  these  changes  would  never 
have  been  known.     The  world  would  have  swept 

134 


The  Divine  Sonship,   Its   Significance 

on  through  the  centuries,  going  from  bad  to  worse, 
like  a  Niagara  Falls,  or  a  desolating  flood. 

Here  in  the  birth  and  life  of  Jesus  we  have  the 
beginning  of  a  new  order  of  humanity,  a  new  race, 
a  divine  family,  the  spiritual  family  of  God.  The 
spirit-  that  was  in  Jesus,  the  iirst-born,  the  head 
of  the  family,  is  to  be  the  family  temper  and  life. 
It  was  to  be  the  mark  of  kinship.  "If  any  man 
have  not  the  spirit  of  Christ,  he  is  none  of  his." 

Then  note  how  Christ  teaches  the  great  lesson  of 
how  he  becomes  the  very  life  of  his  people.  The 
hungry  multitude  was  about  him,  and  it  was  a 
question  with  the  disciples  as  to  how  they  were 
to  be  fed.  Jesus  answered  the  question,  and  then 
lifted  their  thoughts  to  a  higher  need,  spir- 
itual hunger,  and  gave  himself  as  the  pro- 
vision for  it  saying,  'T  am  the  bread  of  life."  If 
we  become  physically  what  we  live  on,  then  what 
do  we  become  when  we  live  on  ''the  bread  of  God 
which  cometh  down  from  heaven,"  as  Jesus  called 
himself?  Paul  expresses  this  wonderful  transform- 
ation when  he  says,  "I  live:  yet  not  I,  but  Christ 
liveth  in  me."  Again  he  says,  "When  Christ,  who 
is  our  life,  shall  appear,  then  shall  ye  also  appear 
with  him  in  glory." 

As  the  foods  that  are  gathered  from  the  grain 
fields,  the  pasture  fields,  the  orchards,  the 
vineyards,  the  gardens,  and  the  rivers  and  the  seas, 
become  by  a  strange  and  mysterious  transmutation, 
our  life  physically,  so  by  faith  Jesus  becomes  to  us 
spiritually  what  these  foods  become  physically,  our 
life.  As  the  food  becomes  me,  by  my  living  on  it,  so 
Jesus  becomes  me,  by  my  living  on  him;  but  could 

135 


The  Exalted  Life 

this  be  true  if  he  were  only  human?  Jesus  said, 
"He  that  eateth  me,  he  shall  live  by  me."  As  it 
was  said,  "Who  can  forgive  sins  but  God?"  so 
it  may  be  said,  "Who  can  give  life  but  God?" 
Jesus  said,  "I  came  that  they  might  have  life." 
He  forgave  sins,  saying,  "Go,  sin  no  more."  He 
had  power  on  earth  to  forgive  sins,  and  verified 
it  by  the  miracles  that  he  wrought.  His  purpose  in 
coming  into  the  world  was  to  do  away  with  sin,  and 
to  destroy  the  works  of  the  devil.  John  says,  "He 
was  manifested  to  take  away  our  sins,  and  in  him 
is  no  sin."  Could  there  be  manifestation  without 
preexistence,  and  could  there  be  preexistence  with- 
out God?  Jesus  Christ  was  God  manifested,  or 
God  incarnate.  Paul  says,  "God  was  in  Christ, 
reconciling  the  world  unto  himself."  (H.  Corinthi- 
ans 5 :  19.)  John  calls  Jesus  the  "Lamb  slain  from 
the  foundation  of  the  world."     (Revelation  13:8.) 

These  Scriptures  so  unify  God  and  Christ,  and 
so  confirm  the  preexistence  of  Christ,  that  no 
reasoning  can  break  or  destroy  the  unity  of  their 
personality — one  in  being,  in  action  manifold. 

Now,  the  Scriptures  ranging  through  this  chapter, 
with  the  great  lesson  touching  the  divine  sonship 
that  they  so  clearly  teach,  prepare  the  way  for 
the  multiplication  of  the  divine  family  by  the 
new  birth  or  personal  regeneration. 

As  previously  stated,  God,  by  the  birth  of  Jesus, 
begins  a  new  order  of  humanity,  establishes  a  new 
family  relationship.  The  first  family  was  estab- 
lished in  Eden,  under  law.  This  family  failed  and 
was  lost.  The  head  of  that  family  was  created,  and 
was  sinless,  but  fell.     Now  God,  the  Father,  starts 

136 


The  Divine   Sonship,   Its   Significance 

another  family,  a  spiritual  family,  of  which  Jesus 
is  the  head,  the  eldest  son.  This  family  begins 
with  a  sinless  head,  as  did  the  first,  but  did  not, 
like  the  first,  lose  the  inheritance  and  doom  the 
family  to  ruin  and  failure. 

The  head  of  this  family  was  born,  not  created. 
In  Romans  8 :  29,  Jesus  is  called  "the  first-born 
among  many  brethren."  This  puts  Christ  in  a  very 
unique  relation  to  the  Church.  Paul  in  Colossians 
1 :  15-18  calls  Jesus  "the  first-born  of  every  crea- 
ture," and  then  says  that  "by  him  were  all  things 
created,  that  are  in  heaven,  and  that  are  in  the 
earth ...  all  things  were  created  by  him,  and  for  him, 
and  he  is  before  all  things,  and  by  him  all  things 
consist .  . .  who  is  the  beginning,  the  first-born  from 
the  dead."  In  Hebrews  12:  23,  the  Church  is  called 
the  "Church  of  the  first-born,"  and  in  Isaiah  9 : 6, 
he  is  called  "a  child  born,"  a  "son  given,"  and  his 
name  is  given  as  "Wonderful,"  "Counselor,"  "The 
Mighty  God,"  "The  Everlasting  Father,"  "The 
Prince  of  Peace." 

Think  of  this  wonderful  blending  of  power  and 
relationship  in  one  being — child,  son,  God,  "all  and 
in  all,"  "full  of  grace  and  truth." 


137 


CHAPTER  XL 
Regeneration   of  the   New   Humanity. 

There  are  two  orders  or  classes  of  humanity  in- 
dicated in  the  Scriptures,  designated  and  distin- 
guished as  "flesh"  and  ''spirit,"  or  the  "natural" 
and  the  "spiritual"  man.  The  one  is  born  after 
the  flesh,  and  minds  the  things  of  the  flesh.  The  oth- 
er is  born  after  the  Spirit,  and  so  minds  the  things 
of  the  Spirit.  In  the  nature  of  things  it  cannot  be 
otherwise  than  this  way.  Each  of  these  lives  has 
its  own  trend,  like  the  fountain  that  is  bitter  or 
sweet,  or  the  tree  that  is  good  or  bad.  These  op- 
posite natures  can  have  issues  only  in  harmony  with 
their  natures. 

When  John  says,  "Now  are  we  the  sons  of  God," 
he  designates  a  royal  family,  one  of  royal  birth 
and  blood.  All  its  members  are  princes.  True, 
the  world  may  regard  them  as  traveling  incognito, 
under  an  assumed  title,  and  class  them  as  among  the 
"offscouring  of  the  earth,"  but  notwithstanding  this 
they  are  journeying  to  a  far-famed  city,  where  they 
are  to  be  crowned  as  kings.  Their  day  of  glory 
will  be  by  and  by.  "They  shall  shine  as  the  stars 
forever  and  ever."  They  are  not  only  to  be 
crowned  as  kings,  but  they  are  to  sit  with  Christ  on 
his  throne.  How  can  it  be  that  the  once  fallen, 
ruined,  corrupted,  and  debased,  can  finally  be  so 
exalted?  This  all  clearly  comes  as  the  result  of  a 
change  of  nature ;  "being  made  partakers  of  the  di- 
vine nature." 

138 


Regeneration   of  the   New  Humanity 

Nothing  short  of  the  divine  character  itself  suf- 
ficed as  a  type  of  this  Hfe  at  the  beginning.  "Let 
us  make  man  in  our  image,  and  let  him  have  do- 
minion," were  God's  final  thoughts  for  man  at  the 
first.  True,  the  crown  has  fallen  from  the  brow 
of  royalty,  and  a  once  noble  and  princely  character 
has  gone  into  the  direst  surf dom ;  but  God  has  been 
pleased  to  reveal  his  "first-born"  as  the  second  head 
of  the  race,  and  thus  restore  the  character  so  in- 
gloriously  lost. 

In  John  3 :  16,  Jesus  is  called  God's  "only  begot- 
ten Son,"  and  in  I.  John  3:1,  we  read  of  "sons 
of  God."  How,  it  may  be  asked,  can  this  be  ?  While 
it  is  plainly  taught  in  the  Scriptures  that  there  is  a 
common  ground  of  fellowship  between  Christ  and 
his  Church,  there  is  a  preeminence  given  him  over 
all  created  things.  "It  pleased  the  Father  that  in 
him  should  all  fulness  dwell,"  and  "that  in  all 
things  he  might  have  the  preeminence."  God  has 
"put  all  things  under  his  feet,  and  given  him  to  be 
the  head  over  all  things  to  the  Church,  which  is  his 
body,  the  fulness  of  him  that  filleth  all  in  all." 

So  there  is  a  sense,  as  indicated  in  these  Scrip- 
tures, in  which,  preeminently,  there  is  one  only 
Son  of  God — the  God-man.  By  way  of  this  dis- 
tinction he  is  "the  only  begotten  Son."  He  is  the 
"eternal  Son;  his  life  is  ageless  and  timeless." 
Jesus  was  God's  son  by  nature,  this  makes  his  son- 
ship  peculiar.  All  other  sonship  is  founded  on 
moral  likeness,  obtained  by  the  new  birth;  hence 
only  those  having  tliat  likeness  can  be  properly 
called  the  sons  of  God. 

139 


The  Exalted  Life 

In  the  genealogy  given  by  Luke,  Adam  is  called 
"the  son  of  God,"  and  rightly  so  as  his  creative  son. 
How  can  we  become  sons  now  ?  Not  as  Adam  was. 
That  sonship  was  lost  through  the  fall,  and  it  has 
never  been  restored.  Man,  to  be  restored  to  son- 
ship,  must  have  a  new  beginning,  be  born  again, 
have  a  spiritual  generation.  Some  may  ask  how 
this  can  be.  Jesus  taught  Nicodemus  the  absolute 
necessity  of  this  change  in  life,  but  he  did  not  tell 
him  how  it  was  done.  He  simply  said  that  in  order 
to  see  (experience  and  enjoy)  and  enter  into  the 
kingdom  of  God,  he  must  be  born  of  the  Spirit. 

We  become  sons  of  God,  figuratively,  as  we  be- 
come by  birth  sons  of  men,  sons  of  the  first  Adam. 
The  way  we  came  to  be  flesh  was  by  birth;  so 
Jesus  taught  Nicodemus.  This  birth  is  the  door  into 
the  physical  life.  There  is  no  other  way  into  the 
kingdom  of  nature.  In  sorrow  we  must  admit 
that  we  were  poorly  or  badly  born.  We  all  came 
from  a  fallen  parentage,  a  fallen  ancestry.  We 
were  all  ''conceived  in  sin  and  shapen  in  iniquity." 
This  sad  inheritance  we  cannot  help.  We  had 
nothing  to  say  as  to  where  or  how  we  would  be 
born,  or  whether  we  would  be  born  at  all ;  but  how- 
ever, we  may  have  been  born,  circumstantially,  we 
all  agree  as  to  the  moral  nature.  We  all  started  with 
a  bad  heart.  Who  has  not  found  this  out  to  his 
certain  sorrow?  Air,  food,  climate,  water,  country, 
and  race,  make  no  very  marked  difference. 
We  all  started  wrong.  Our  trouble  is  centrally 
located,  in  the  heart.  Men  do  not  have  to  get  old 
in  order  to  become  criminals.  The  inmates  of  our 
jails  and  our  prisons  are,  in  a  great  majority  of 

140 


Regeneration  of  the   New   Humanity 

cases,  young  men.  So  the  disturbers  of  the  peace 
on  our  streets  and  in  our  churches  are  of  this 
youthful  class. 

Now,  how  can  this  natural,  evil  tendency  be 
changed?  Born  bad  we  were,  after  iithe  flesh. 
There  is  only  one  way,  a  new,  fresh  start  by  a  birth 
from  above — there  is  no  other  way  to  get  into 
the  kingdom  of  God ;  there  is  no  other  way  into 
the  divine  family,  to  be  sons  of  God,  than  by  a 
spiritual  birth.  As  we  entered  the  physical  world 
by  birth,  so  by  birth  we  must  enter  the  spiritual 
world,  or  kingdom.  Below  this  kingdom  of  grace 
stand  four  other  kingdoms,  the  mineral,  the  vege- 
table, the  animal,  and  the  rational  (mind  and  soul) 
kingdom ;  then  comes  the  spiritual,  the  kingdom  of 
God.  To  become  sons  of  God  we  must  enter  this 
kingdom.  "Flesh  and  blood  cannot  inherit  the 
kingdom  of  God." 

There  is  the  highest  philosophy  in  this  divine 
requirement.  We  must  have  or  be  of  the  nature 
of  the  world  that  we  live  in.  We  could  not  live 
in  this  physical  world  if  we  were  not  of  its  nature. 
God's  requirements  are  not  arbitrary,  but  founded 
on  highest  reason.  We  cannot  see  until  we  have 
eyes.  Who  can  tell  the  colors  in  the  rainbow,  the 
color  of  the  clouds,  of  the  sky,  of  the  plants  and 
of  the  flowers  when  blind?  The  natural  man,  the 
Bible  says,  does  not  discern  spiritual  things.  In 
order  to  this  discernment  there  must  be  a  nature 
that  belongs  to,  and  is  like  the  spiritual.  It  is  not 
arbitrary,  but  wholly  a  question  of  capacity,  of 
fitness,  of  likeness  or  affinity  of  natures.  There 
must  be  a  change  of  standing — a  change  from  the 

141 


The  Exalted  Life 

old  to  the  new,  from  the  carnal  to  the  spiritual, 
from  the  first  Adam  to  the  second  Adam.  Here 
Christ  is  the  typical  life,  and  the  fashioning  must 
be  after  this  divine  image.  Just  as  by  natural 
generation  we  bear  the  image  of  the  earthly,  so  by 
regeneration  we  come  to  bear  the  image  of  the 
heavenly. 

This  wonderful  change  comes  as  the  result  of 
having  this  new,  Christ-life  begotten  within  us  by 
the  Holy  Spirit.  Here  is  divine  conception.  If 
*'lust  can  conceive,"  and  James  says  it  can  (James 
1:15),  and  "bring  forth  sin,"  then  the  Spirit  can 
conceive  and  bring  forth  righteousness.  Here  we 
have  the  true  theory  of  evolution,  having  first  invo- 
lution— ''Christ  our  life." 

Then  this  change  does  not  come,  as  some  are 
wont  to  think,  as  the  result  of  culture  or  training 
or  self-reformation.  John  tells  us  what  it  does  not 
come  from  (John  1 :  13)  : 

First.  It  is  ''not  of  blood,"  that  is,  it  is  not  an 
inheritance.  The  grace  of  life  does  not  come 
through  natural  generation.  Parents,  however  good, 
cannot  transmit  the  life  they  received  by  faith.  At 
the  first,  Adam  begat  a  son  in  his  own  likeness. 
It  has  been  so  of  his  descendants  ever  since.  Solo- 
mon, the  wise  man,  had  only  one  son  and  he  was 
a  fool.  His  father  could  transmit  only  what  was 
natural  to  him,  not  what  he  acquired. 

Second.  Nor  does  it  come  "of  the  will  of  the 
flesh."  This  cuts  out  all  self-regeneration.  Here 
comes  in  the  beguiling  snare  of  morality.  "I  will 
reform,"  says  the  sinner,  "and  become  a  moral,  up- 
right man."     Let  him  try  it,  and  see  if  he  can  be 

142 


Regeneration  of  the   New   Hum^anity 

come  anything  else  or  more  than  an  artificial  char- 
acter. He  may  be  a  *'bonney  social  bouquet,"  but 
it  is  home-made,  artificial,  and  hence  cannot  pass 
as  genuine.  Can  a  clock  that  is  going  wrong  by 
ten  minutes  every  twenty-four  hours,  be  corrected 
simply  by  turning  the  hands  on  the  dial-plate  ?  The 
trouble  is  not  with  the  hands.  They  are  honest 
hands.  They  tell  out  to  the  eye  of  the  beholder 
the  trouble  that  is  concealed  within.  Something  must 
be  done  on  the  inside,  at  the  center  of  the  clock, 
and  when  that  is  properly  adjusted  the  han^s  will 
report  the  correct  time  as  the  hours  and  the  days 
go  by. 

What  wise  fruit  grower  would  think  of  changing 
the  fruit  on  a  bad  tree  by  pulling  the  fruit  off  in 
the  autumn  time  and  throwing  it  away?  He  would 
know  that  that  tree  would  bear  the  same  kind  of 
fruit  the  next  autumn.  The  fruit  was  not  to  blame 
for  being  bad,  it  was  honest  fruit.  It  could  not 
help  itself,  it  had  nothing  to  do  with  its  quality  or 
nature.  If  different  fruit  is  to  be  grown  that  tree 
must  have  its  nature  changed,  there  must  be  some 
grafting  done.  The  tree  is  wrong  inside.  The 
fruit  must  have  another  source,  a  good  source, 
from  which  to  grow  before  it  can  be  good. 

What  man  would  attempt  to  change  the  nature  of 
the  water  in  his  well,  that  was  ruining  the  health 
of  his  family,  by  simply  putting  in  a  new  pump, 
with  a  silver  stock  and  a  golden  spout  ?  The  trouble 
is  not  with  the  pump,  or  with  the  family,  it  is  with 
the  water  itself.  It  must  be  changed,  and  bringing 
it  through  a  channel  made  of  the  costliest  jewels 
would  not  remedy  the  evil.     Something  must  be 

143 


The  Exalted  Life 

done  with  the  water  or  with  the  source  from  which 
it  comes. 

Third.  "Nor  of  the  will  of  man."  This 
change  does  not  come  from  being  well-born, 
nor  from  any  moral,  or  mental,  or  physical  energy 
exercised  by  the  individual,  neither  does  it  come 
from  any  collective  force  from  many  individuals. 
No  church,  however  strong  and  sound  its  creed,  or 
numerous  and  solemn  its  sacraments,  can  produce 
this  change  that  makes  a  "new  creature"  out  of 
an  ol(i  one.  If  all  the  churches  in  Christendom 
were  to  unite  in  one  ecclesiastical  federation,  and 
bring  all  their  power  of  brain  and  hnirl  to  bear 
on  one  poor,  penitent,  weeping  sinner,  they  could 
not  change  him  into  a  saint.  He  would  still  be  the 
Ethiopian  with  his  color  and  the  leopard  with  his 
spots. 

What  folly  in  the  face  of  sound  philosophy  and 
good  scriptural  teaching,  to  base  the  new  birth  on 
water  baptism,  and  then  more  especially  on  a  cer- 
tain mode  of  administering  it.  If  that  that  is  be- 
gotten partakes  of  the  nature  of  that  of  which  it  is 
born,  then  what  can  we  say  of  one  that  is  self- 
begotten,  or  ecclesiastically  begotten? 

Now,  as  in  the  case  of  the  disordered  clock,  the 
bad  fruit,  and  the  impure  water,  so  here  the  trouble 
is  with  the  individual  himself.  He  cannot  develop 
what  is  not  in  him.  If  the  fountain  is  bad  so 
is  the  stream,  if  the  tree  is  bad  so  is  the  fruit,  and 
if  the  heart  is  bad  so  is  the  life. 

Environment,  however  good,  cannot  remedy  the 
evil.  Put  a  sick  man  on  a  bed  of  eider-down, 
environ  it  with  curtains  of  damask,  and  in  the  most 

144 


Regeneration  of  the  New  Humanity 

palatial  residence  and  he  will  writhe  with  pain 
and  pass  to  his  grave.  The  trouble  is  in  him  and 
not  in  his  surroundings.  One  man  is  in  misery 
and  hopeless  despair  living  in  a  royal  residence, 
while  another  will  shout  and  sing  within  the  walls 
of  a  grimy  prison. 

Fourth.  Now,  if  this  wonderful  change  cannot 
come  on  any  of  the  lines  named  above — "not  of 
blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will 
of  man" — then  on  what  line  does  it  come?  John 
says  that  God  gives  the  power,  privilege,  or  author- 
ity, "to  become  the  sons  of  God."  How?  By  birth. 
Of  whom?  "Of  God."  Here  we  have  a  divine 
heredity,  which  accounts  for  all  that  may  and  can 
be  said  of  these  heavenly  citizens. 

But  what  a  moral,  more  especially  spiritual  gulf 
there  is  between  the  old  and  the  new  life !  It  is  as 
wide  as  that  between  life  and  death,  holiness  and 
sin,  God  and  Satan — and,  in  its  final  issue,  as 
heaven  and  hell. 

Now,  as  "sons  of  God"  there  must  be  a  re- 
semblance between  God,  as  Father,  and  his  children. 
This  ought  to  settle  that  question  of  universal 
fatherhood  about  which  we  are  hearing  so  much 
these  days.  There  are  two  lines  of  humanity,  each 
having  a  different  fatherhood,  and  designated  and 
distinguished  as  "flesh"  and  "spirit,"  "carnal"  and 
"spiritual."  It  is  true  that  in  the  earthly  origin, 
at  the  beginning  of  the  human  race,  God  was  the 
creator  of  universal  humanity,  because  Adam  was 
the  whole  of  humanity  when  he  was  made.  But 
was  that  state  and  relationship  maintained,  and  has 
it  come  down  to  us  through  the  centuries?     Did 

145 


TDhe  Exalted  Life 

God  maintain  the  same  relationship  to  man  after 
the  fall  that  he  did  before?  Was  man  still  God's 
moral  and  spiritual  child?  If  so,  what  did  the  sen- 
tence of  death  mean?  Had  it  any  meaning?  If 
death  means  destruction,  separation,  how  did  it 
take  effect  and  what  its  effect?  Did  it  sunder 
relationship,  and  if  so  in  what  sense?  Did  Adam 
still  hold  his  relationship  as  ''son  of  God"  after 
the  fall?  If  so,  what  did  the  fall  do  in  changing 
the  relationship?  If  a  son,  was  he  still  an  heir? 
If  so,  what  did  he  forfeit? 

Then,  where  does  the  serpent,  the  devil,  come 
in  in  this  ruin?  God  said,  "Thou  shalt  die,"  Satan 
said,  "Thou  shalt  not  surely  die."  Did  not  man 
die?  God  said,  "in  the  day  thou  eatest  thereof." 
Was  this  not  spiritual  death,  separation  from  God? 
If  so,  was  sonship  still  maintained? 

Then,  where  does  Christ  come  in  in  the  plan 
of  restoration?  He  was  the  promised  seed,  and 
was  to  recover  the  lost  relationship.  What  was 
that  relationship?  Does  it  not  imply  and  embrace 
sonship?  If  sonship,  which  implies  fatherhood,  sur- 
vived the  wreck  of  the  fall,  then  how  was  it 
necessary  for  God  to  have  another  son  to  begin 
another  family,  established  and  based  on  spiritual 
birth  and  adoption? 

Then  again,  how  can  there  be  two  heads  unless 
there  are  two  lines  of  moral  humanity?  Adam  is 
the  federal  head  of  the  fallen  humanity;  Jesus 
Christ  is  the  living  head  of  redeemed  and  saved 
humanity.  Now  is  there  not  a  marked  difference 
between  the  two?  Is  God  the  Father  of  the  one 
the  same  as  he  is  of  the  other?    If  so,  how,  in  what 

146 


Regeneration   of  the   New   Humanity 

sense?  What  constitutes  the  kinship  between  God 
and  fallen  humanity?  He  is  holy,  consequently 
"separate  from  sinners."  All  the  descendants  of 
Adam  were  "conceived  in  sin  and  shapen  in  iniq- 
uity." Can  they  in  this  moral  condition  have  re- 
lationship and  fellowship  with  God  as  Father  and 
sons? 

The  position  of  the  writer  is  that  there  is  a 
spiritual  fatherhood  and  a  true  spiritual  brother- 
hood, but  that  neither  of  these  is  universal.  The 
spiritual  brotherhood  is  composed  of  all  that  have 
been  "begotten  again."  As  Peter  says,  "Being  born 
again,  not  of  corruptible  seed,  but  of  incorruptible, 
by  the  word  of  God,  which  liveth  and  abideth  for- 
ever." (I.  Peter  1 :  23.)  Now  what  fellowship  can 
there  be  between  those  that  are  born  of  the  Spirit 
and  those  that  are  born  after  the  flesh — "conceived 
in  sin  and  shapen  in  iniquity"?  What  fellowship 
was  there  between  these  two  as  seen  and  repre- 
sented in  Abraham's  family?  Paul  makes  this 
plain.  He  says,  "Now  we,  brethren,  as  Isaac  was, 
are  the  children  of  promise."  He  goes  on  to  say, 
"But  as  then  he  that  was  born  after  the  flesh 
persecuted  him  that  was  born  after  the  Spirit,  even 
so  it  is  now."  (Galatians  4:28,  29.)  John  makes 
this  distinction  very  plain  when  he  says,  "We  know 
that  whosoever  is  born  of  God  sinneth  [lives  in] 
not;  but  he  that  is  begotten  of  God  keepeth  himself, 
and  that  wicked  one  toucheth  him  not.  And  we 
know  that  we  are  of  God,  and  the  whole  world  lieth 
in  wickedness"  (in  the  wicked  one).  (I.  John 
5:  18,  19.)  Again  John  says,  "Whosoever  is  born 
of  God  doth  not  commit  sin  [live  sinfully]  ;  for  his 

147 


The  Exalted  Life 

seed  remaineth  in  him:  and  he  cannot  sin,  because 
he  is  born  of  God."  (I.  John  3:9.)  Here  the 
very  nature  of  God  dwells  within  the  believer,  hence 
he  cannot  practice  sin  or  be  living  a  sinful  life. 
In  the  tenth  verse  of  this  same  chapter,  John  says, 
"In  this  the  children  of  God  are  manifest,  and 
the  children  of  the  devil :  whosoever  doeth  not 
righteousness  is  not  of  God,  neither  he  that  loveth 
not  his  brother."  Here  the  two  classes — "children 
of  God,"  "children  of  the  devil" — the  one  living 
in  the  practice  of  righteousness,  having  the  divine 
nature  as  its  source;  the  other  living  in  the 
practice  of  sin,  having  the  devil  or  evil  na- 
ture as  its  source — for  "he  was  a  sinner  from  the 
beginning,"  and  "he  that  committeth  sin  is  of  the 
devil." 

Hear  Jesus  as  he  addresses  the  scribes  and  Phar- 
isees on  a  very  important  occasion,  on  this  very 
question  of  fatherhood:  "If  God  were  your  Father, 
ye  would  love  me  .  .  ye  are  of  your  father  the  devil .  . 
he  was  a  murderer  from  the  beginning,  and  abode 
not  in  the  truth,  because  there  is  no  truth  in  him. 
When  he  speaketh  a  lie,  he  speaketh  of  his  own: 
for  he  is  a  liar,  and  the  father  of  it."  (John 
8:37-44.) 

Here  Jesus  clearly  designates  the  nature  as  being 
false,  and  the  life  per  consequence  must  agree 
therewith;  hence  the  life  was  false,  a  lie.  Not  a 
lie  told  but  a  lie  lived — the  Hfe  itself  a  lie.  Jesus 
would  say,  "I  am  the  truth,"  hence  I  speak  what 
I  am,  the  truth.  You  are  a  lie,  because  your  father 
is  that,  and  hence  you  speak  what  you  are.  The 
individual  will   be   servant  of  what  he  is  and  of 

148 


Regeneration  of  the   New   Hunianity 

what  he  does.  "Whosoever  committeth  sin  is  the 
servant  of  sin."  In  contrast  with  this  we  have  the 
words,  "Ye  shall  know  the  truth,  and  the  truth 
shall  make  you  free."  Again,  "If  the  Son  therefore 
shall  make  you  free,  ye  shall  be  free  indeed." 

In  this  great  controversy  in  the  eighth  chapter  of 
St.  John,  Jesus  makes  a  distinction  between  Abra- 
ham's seed  and  Abraham's  children.  He  admits  the 
one,  but  does  not  admit  the  other.  "I  know  that 
ye  are  Abraham's  seed."  The  claim  made  was  that 
"Abraham  is  our  father."  Note  the  reply  that  Jesus 
gave  to  this :  "If  ye  were  Abraham's  children,  ye 
would  do  the  works  of  Abraham."  Abraham  never 
did  what  you  are  trying  to  do,  "kill  me,"  hence  you 
are  not  his  children. 

Here  the  two  posterities  of  Abraham  are  clearly 
noted  and  contrasted.  "The  Israelitish  people  and 
the  Ishmaelites"  are  classed  as  the  seed  of  Abra- 
ham. Now  comes  the  children  of  God,  the  posterity 
of  faith.  "They  are  not  all  Israel,"  says  Paul, 
"which  are  of  Israel :  neither,  because  they  are  the 
seed  of  Abraham,  are  they  all  children ;  but,  in 
Isaac  shall  thy  seed  be  called."  That  is,  they  which 
are  the  children  of  the  flesh,  these  are  not  the  child- 
ren of  God.  (Romans  8:6-8.)  How  then  is 
he  their  Father? 

In  Galatians  3 : 6-9,  Paul  designates  those  that 
are  the  children  of  Abraham,  and  consequently 
share  the  blessings  that  come  in  the  line  of  faith 
and  spiritual  sonship.  He  says,  "Even  as  Abraham 
believed  God,  and  it  was  accounted  to  him  for  right- 
eousness. Know  ye  therefore  that  they  which  are  of 
faith,  the  same  are  the  children  of  Abraham."    Now 

149 


The  Exalted  Life 

note  the  sweeping  statement  in  the  eighth  verse: 
''And  the  scripture,  forseeing  that  God  would 
justify  the  heathen  [Gentiles]  through  faith, 
preached  before  the  gospel  unto  Abraham,  saying, 
In  thee  shall  all  the  nations  be  blessed.  So  then 
they  which  be  of  faith  are  blessed  with  faithful 
[believing]  Abraham."  But  only  the  believing 
ones. 

This  thought  lias  been  followed  and  elabor- 
ated at  greater  length  than  was  at  first  intended; 
but  in  some  way,  wisely  or  unwisely,  it  grew  in 
importance  and  magnitude  as  the  grounds  of  evi- 
dence were  being  surveyed. 

Now  for  a  brief  purview  of  the  chapter : 

1.  The  elements  or  ground  of  original  sonship, 
which  sonship  was  creative,  were  lost  through  the 
fall,  man  died;  the  divine  image,  moral  likeness, 
was  effaced. 

2.  Through  the  promise  of  a  Savior  in  order  to 
reestablish  and  conserve  through  the  intervening 
centuries  the  unity  of  the  human  and  the  divine, 
God  selected  a  certain  individual,  a  certain  family, 
and  finally  a  certain  nation,  in  and  through  which 
he  could  work.  Here  fatherhood  was  established; 
but  in  "a  patriotic  and  national  sense."  In  harmony 
with  this  we  read,  'T  am  a  Father  to  Israel,  and 
Ephraim  is  my  first-born."  (Jeremiah  1:9.) 
Isaiah  says,  Jehovah  is  our  Father:  he  is  the  pot- 
ter and  we  are  the  clay.  (Isaiah  64:  8.)  Here  we 
have  the  idea  of  creation,  as  in  Acts  17:29,  where 
man  is  called — not  by  inspiration  but  by  Athenian 
poets — the  "offspring,"  the  creative  work  of  God. 
Here  we  have  nothing  about  fatherhood. 

150 


Regeneration  of  the   New  Humanity 

3.  We  have  fatherhood  and  sonship  in  the  New 
Testament,  based  on  faith,  and  the  new  birth.  Some 
of  the  characteristics  of  this  relationship  will  be 
noted  in  the  ensuing  chapter. 

In  Genesis  3:  15,- we  have  the  first  promise,  and 
the  beginning  of  the  new  race— "Abel,  Seth,  Noah, 
Shem,  Abraham,  Isaac,  Jacob,  Judah,  David,  and 
Jesus,  the  Christ."  In  no  instance  have  we  univer- 
sal fatherhood  and  universal  brotherhood  in  the 
New  Testament  sense. 


151 


CHAPTER  XII. 
Some  of  the  Characteristics  of  Sonship. 

Some  may  not  be  able  to  recall  with  the  precise- 
ness  of  the  almanac  the  exact  day,  nor  with  the 
clock  the  exact  hour  when  the  new  birth  occurred 
as  a  conscious  experience;  but  the  fact  of  its 
occurrence  is  not  less  true  or  less  important  on  this 
account.  There  may  be  grounds  for  temptations 
and  for  Satan's  assailments  because  of  this,  es- 
pecially in  the  light  of  very  vivid  and  striking  ex- 
periences as  related  by  others;  but  all  honest,  per- 
severing ones  that  are  anxious  to  be  right,  will  find 
their  "path  as  the  shining  light,  that  shineth  more 
and  more  unto  the  perfect  day."  So  far  as  evidence 
is  concerned,  it  is  only  a  question  of  perseverance. 
God  can  and  will  make  himself  known  to  his  own. 
"Then  shall  we  know,  if  we  follow  on  to  know  the 
Lord:  his  going  forth  is  prepared  as  the  morning; 
and  he  shall  come  unto  us  as  the  rain,  as  the  latter 
and  former  rain  unto  the  earth."     (Hosea  6:3.) 

1.  The  event,  when  and  however  occurring,  is 
a  joyous  one.  It  was  a  "happy  day  when  Jesus 
washed  our  sins  away,"  and  must  ever  remain 
in  our  memory.  The  day  and  place  of  our  natural 
birth  has  wonderful  power  to  stir  sensibilities,  and 
the  years  never  seem  long  and  heavy  enough  to 
deaden  us  to  it.  When  old  and  stricken  in  years 
joyous  pilgrimages  to  the  homes  of  childhood  are 
often  made  where  sweet  sylvan-toned  voices  from 

152 


Some  of  the  Characteristics  of  Sonship 

out  the  past  fill  all  with  most  redolent  memories. 
Who  is  there  that  does  not  like  to  go  back  to  the 
scenes  of  childhood,  to  that  place  where  that  won- 
derful event  occurred  that  brought  into  this  world 
a  member  and  a  representative  of  the  kingdom  of 
God?  What  festivity  reigned  in  that  home,  how- 
ever humble  it  may  have  been! 

Now,  if  this  event  of  our  natural  birth  was  so 
joyous  as  to  be  held  and  cherished  in  memory 
through  the  passing  years,  how  much  more  precious 
and  sacred  and  joyous  ought  the  memory  of  our 
spiritual  birth  to  be!  That  "happy  day  that  fixed 
our  choice"  for  Jesus  and  for  heaven  ought,  of 
all  days,  to  be  the  most  joyous  and  the  sweetest  in 
memory.  If  when  the  cornerstone  of  creation  was 
laid,  it  was  celebrated  by  "the  morning  stars  singing 
together,  and  all  the  sons  [angels]  of  God  shouting 
for  joy,"  what  ought  the  music  to  be  when  a  lost 
soul,  an  alien  from  God,  has  the  kingdom  of  God 
brought  in  to  him,  and  he  enters,  by  spiritual 
birth,  the  family  of  God?  Is  it  any  wonder  that 
there  is  "joy  in  the  presence  of  the  angels  of  God 
over  one  sinner  that  repenteth"?     (Luke  15:  10.) 

Jesus  always  brings  joy  when  he  comes.  Zac- 
cheus  received  him  joyfully.  Did  any  one  ever 
receive  him  otherwise?  He  brought  joy  to  both 
heaven  and  earth  when  he  was  only  a  babe  in 
Bethlehem.  There  was  joy  in  the  temple  when 
Spirit-guided  ones  saw  and  recognized  him.  The 
people  shouted  for  joy  when  he  was  in  his  humble 
but  triumphant  march  into  Jerusalem.  The  little 
children  shouted  for  joy  when  he  cleansed  the  tem- 
ple of  its  profaners.    Many  w^ere  made  glad  under 

153 


The  Exalted  Life 

his  ministry  of  love  and  grace  when  he  was  among 
men.  After  the  tragedy  of  the  cross,  and  the  con- 
quest of  death,  he  gladdened  his  disciples  by  ap- 
pearing in  their  midst  and  showing  them  his  hands 
and  his  side.  "Then  were  the  disciples  glad,  when 
they  saw  the  Lord."  Then  when  Jesus  went  away 
into  heaven  he  poured  a  floodtide  of  glory  and 
blessing  upon  this  fallen  world  by  what  he  said  and 
by  what  he  did.  Note  these  last  things :  He  sent  the 
promise  of  his  Father,  the  Holy  Spirit,  upon  his 
disciples ;  he  led  them  out  and  blessed  them ;  in 
their  sight  he  was  carried  up  into  heaven;  they 
returned  to  Jerusalem  with  great  joy,  "and  were 
continually  in  the  temple,  praising  and  blessing  God, 
Amen." 

Then  when  Jesus  went  away,  he  left  a  kingdom, 
the  constituent  elements  of  which  ought  to  set 
this  world  fairly  wild  to  enter  it.  It  consists  of 
"righteousness,  and  peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy 
Ghost."  Who  would  not  like  to  live  under  the 
sway  of  such  government?  Everybody  upright,  all 
living  at  peace,  the  one  with  the  other,  and  all  happy 
filled  with  joy. 

Now,  all  this  rich  inheritance  here,  and  all  that 
richer  inheritance  promised  hereafter,  depends  on 
our  sonship.  There  can  be  no  sonship  without  a 
spiritual  birth,  and  there  can  be  no  inheritance  with- 
out belonging  to  the  divine  family.  "If  children, 
then  heirs,"  not  only  can  there  be  no  inheritance, 
but  there  can  be  no  fellowship  without  the  impar- 
tation  of  this  divine  nature.  "What  fellowship 
has  Christ  with  Belial?"  There  must  be  kindred 
life  between  father  and  son.     It  was  so  between 

154 


Some  of  the  Characteristics  of  Sonship 

Christ  and  his  Father,  and  it  must  be  so  between 
God  and  those  that  are  born  of  him.  Was  not  this 
what  Jesus  prayed  for?  "That  they  all  may  be 
one ;  as  thou,  Father,  art  in  me,  and  I  in  thee,  that 
they  also  may  be  one  in  us :  that  the  world  may  be- 
lieve that  thou  hast  sent  me.  And  the  glory  which 
thou  gavest  me  I  have  given  them;  that  they  may 
be  one,  even  as  we  are  one :  I  in  them,  and  thou 
in  me,  that  they  may  be  made  perfect  in  one." 
(John  17:21-23.)  Note  that  this  unity  is  typed 
after  the  unity  of  Jesus  and  his  Father,  "That 
they  may  be  one,  even  as  we  are  one;  I  in  them, 
and  thou  in  me."  Again,  "As  thou,  Father,  art  in 
me,  and  I  in  thee,  that  they  also  may  be  one  in 
us." 

Here  we  have  the  communication  of  life  and 
nature.  The  same  life  that  was  in  Christ  was  in 
his  disciples,  for  he  says,  "I  in  them,  and  thou  in 
me."  As  the  nature  of  the  Father  was  in  the  Son,  so 
that  same  nature  is  carried  by  Christ  into  those 
whom  the  Father  had  "given  him  out  of  the  world." 
There  is  another  thought  in  this  connection  worthy 
of  consideration.  Where  there  is  the  communica- 
tion of  life  and  nature  there  will  also  be  the  spirit 
of  reciprocity.  How  can  a  life  derived  from  God 
be  other  than  kindred,  and  how  can  it  unfold  itself 
in  its  possessor  except  in  likeness  to  the  one  that 
gave  it?  Love  will  respond  to  love;  life  will  be 
given  for  life.  Self  will  be  denied  and  the  cross  will 
be  taken,  and  all  this  that  the  disciples  might  have 
fulfilled  in  him  that  for  which  Jesus  prayed.  That 
they  might  have  "my  joy  fulfilled  in  themselves." 

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The  Exalted  Life 

I  am  sure  no  one  can  rightly  estimate  and  ap- 
preciate the  privilege  and  the  joy  of  this  transfer 
from  and  out  of  the  earthly  family  to  this  heavenly 
family.  The  name  at  once  goes  on  the  family  rec- 
ord above,  on  the  ''Lamb's  Book  of  Life."  Jesus 
made  this,  and  not  the  casting  out  of  devils,  the 
main  occasion  for  the  joy  of  his  disciples,  "that 
their  names  were  written  in  heaven."  This  is  the 
joy  of  the  prodigal  at  home,  of  the  convict  and  the 
felon  delivered  by  pardon  from  his  prison  cell ;  and 
of  a  long-oppressed  slave  and  captive  set  free.  The 
half  has  never  been  told. 

2.  There  will  be  the  child-feeling,  the  filial  feel- 
ing. "And  because  ye  are  sons,  God  hath  sent  forth 
the  spirit  of  his  son  into  your  hearts,  crying,  Abba, 
Father."  This  instinct  in  the  natural  is  not  more 
marked  than  in  the  spiritual  child;  but  do  we  al- 
ways think  and  speak  of  him  as  becom'eth  sons  ?  Do 
we  not  rather  think  of  him  as  law-giver,  judge,  al- 
mighty sovereign,  and  a  God  of  vengeance,  rather 
than  as  Father?  He  is  all  these,  but  Father  is 
the  child,  the  family  name.  The  world  that  lieth 
in  wickedness  speak  of  him  by  the  harsh  and  re- 
vengeful epithets,  but  never  with  the  inner  con- 
sciousness of  his  being  Father.  Only  his  own  child- 
ren can  speak  of  him  after  this  manner. 

Christ  always  honored  him  as  Father,  using  the 
name  some  fifteen  times  in  his  Sermon  on  the 
Mount.  He  talked  about  his  watching  the  sparrow's 
fall,  of  his  feeding  the  birds,  of  his  clothing  the 
lilies,  and  of  his  numbering  the  hairs  of  our  heads. 
He  tells  us  of  his  larger  willingness  over  any  earthly 
father  to   do  good   to  his  children.     "How  much 

156 


Some  of  the  Characteristics  of  Sonship 

more,"  are  the  words  which  he  uses  in  the  compari- 
son. In  John  10 :  29,  he  tells  of  his  Father  holding 
all  his  children  in  his  hand,  and,  by  reason  of  this, 
of  their  absolute  safety.  **No  man  is  able  to  pluck 
them  out  of  my  Father's  hands." 

3.  There  will  be  the  family  temper.  John  says 
(I.  John  4:  7,  8)  :  "Beloved,  let  us  love  one  another: 
for  love  is  of  God ;  and  every  one  that  loveth  is  born 
of  God,  and  knoweth  God.  He  that  loveth  not 
knoweth  not  God;  for  God  is  love."  Again,  "He 
that  loveth  God  loveth  his  brother  also."  Language 
is  strong  at  this  place  and  in  this  connection :  "He 
that  loveth  not  his  brother  abideth  in  death."  "H 
a  man  say,  I  love  God,  and  hateth  his  brother,  he 
is  a  liar."  We  have  it  still  stronger,  "Whosoever 
hateth  his  brother  is  a  murderer;  and  ye  know  that 
no  murderer  hath  eternal  life  abiding  in  him." 

These  words  tell  in  the  strongest  possible  way 
the  importance  of  love  among  Christians,  and  the 
awful  crime  of  the  opposite  temper  obtaining.  He 
that  professes  to  love  God,  and  then  carries  hatred 
in  his  heart,  is  branded  by  the  spirit  of  inspiration 
as  a  liar.  Still  worse,  he  is  classed  as  a  murderer. 
Such  a  man  is  lost,  whatever  and  however  his  pro- 
fession may  be  to  the  contrary.  Christ  cannot  live 
in  such  a  heart  nor  with  such  a  character.  He  is 
a  murderer,  and  hence  cannot  have  eternal  life 
abiding  in  him. 

Oh,  that  God's  sons  would  weigh  well  these  words 
in  the  light  of  the  awful  character  they  give  to 
the  one  that  "hateth  his  brother."  It  was  this  feel- 
ing that  incited  to  the  first  murder  on  record.  It 
is  of  this  feeling  that  murder  comes.    This  kind  of 

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The  Exalted  Life 

Spirit  belongs  to  the  devil  and  his  children,  not 
to  the  sons  of  God. 

Law  says  murder  is  an  act,  a  deed  done.  Christ 
says  it  is  a  temper.  Just  as  adultery  may  be  in 
the  desire  only,  so  murder  may  be  in  the  spirit  of 
hatred  only.  Love  never  works  any  ill  to  a  neigh- 
bor, and  a  neighbor  is  any  one  we  can  help,  any 
one  in  need. 

The  spectacle  of  a  divided  family  is  a  sad  one. 
I  have  heard  of  brothers  in  the  same  family  not 
recognizing  one  another  for  years.  I  read  of  two 
sisters  that  lived  in  almost  a  life-long  separation, 
and  they  the  only  surviving  members  of  the  family. 
I  heard  of  a  husband  and  wife,  living  under  the 
same  roof,  that  did  not  exchange  words  for  a  long 
time.  How  cruel  and  unnatural  this  all  seems !  Wc 
never  seem  quite  able  to  get  used  to  it,  and  are  never 
able  to  approve  and  commend  the  course.  It  might 
be  better  for  some  people — for  this  present  world 
and  their  present  peace — if  wide  continents  and 
mighty  seas  divided  them.  A  Confederate  colonel 
is  reported  to  have  said,  "Nothing  my  brother  could 
do  would  ever  make  me  refuse  to  speak  to  him." 
This  shows  the  power  of  kindred  feeling,  and  really 
represents  the  world's  standard  of  love  for  the  fam- 
ily. This  being  true,  can  the  standard  for  the  divine, 
the  heavenly  family,  where  the  Holy  Spirit  is  its  life 
and  its  prevailing  atmosphere,  be  lower?  Let  us 
as  Christians  not  be  deceived  here.  We  may  pro- 
fess that  we  have  no  enmity,  but  at  the  same  time 
consciously  or  unconsciously,  prefer  the  other  side 
of  the  street  in  the  city,  or  the  seat  across  the 
aisle  in  the  church.     At  least  it  is  very  natural  and 

158 


Some  of  the  Characteiistics  of  Sonship 

very  easy  to  be  quite  formal  and  professional  in 
our  greetings  to  certain  persons,  and  the  very  oppo- 
site to  other  persons  not  any  better,  if  as  good. 
Why? 

Jesus  makes  love  the  test  of  discipleship,  and  says, 
"By  this  shall  all  men  know  that  ye  are  my  dis- 
ciples, if  ye  have  love  one  to  another."  Is  there 
anything  sweeter  and  more  beautiful  in  hu- 
man relations — in  wedded  life,  in  family  life,  in 
the  community  and  in  society — than  love?  Where 
is  there  a  bond  that  is  stronger,  that  will  stand  as 
great  a  strain,  as  this? 

Now,  if  love  means  so  much  on  the  earthly  plane 
and  in  human  afifairs,  what  ought  it  to  mean  on  the 
higher,  the  heavenly  plane,  where  the  very  nature 
of  God,  who  is  love,  is  the  basis  of  the  life,  the 
possession  of  which  constitutes  each  individual  a 
member  of  this  divine  household  of  faith?  If  love 
is  world-convincing,  as  the  very  essence  of  our 
Father's  nature  stands  above  all  miraculous  gifts 
and  human  achievements,  where  will  we  individuals 
stand  when  weighed  in  the  balance?  The  new 
commandment  is,  "That  ye  love  one  another,  as  I 
have  loved  you."  Jesus,  in  his  love  for  his  dis- 
ciples, puts  them  on  an  equality  with,  if  not  even 
before  his  own  mother. 

4.  There  will  be  a  family  resemblance.  In 
Romans  8 :  29,  Paul  says,  "We  are  to  be  con- 
formed to  the  image  of  his  Son."  There  is  a  law 
running  through  all  creation,  "that  like  begets  like." 
This  was  true  in  the  beginning  of  the  race.  "Adam 
begat  a  son  in  his  own  likeness,  after  his  image." 
"That  which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh;  and  that 

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The  Exalted  Life 

which  is  born  of  the  Spirit  is  spirit."  Jesus  does 
not  say  that  it  is  Hke  spirit,  but  that  it  is  spirit.  In 
I.  Corinthians  11:7,  Paul  says  that  man  "is  the 
image  and  glory  of  God."  When  the  divine  nature 
is  begotten  within,  it  cannot  be  otherwise  than  that 
the  beauty  and  glory  of  that  nature  will  be  imaged 
in  and  through  the  life  of  the  believer.  The  Holy 
Spirit  fixes  the  seal  on  the  possession.  Paul  says, 
'The  foundation  of  God  standeth  sure,  having  this 
seal,  the  Lord  knoweth  them  that  are  his."  Again 
he  says,  "God  sealed  us,  and  hath  given  the  earnest 
of  the  spirit  in  our  hearts." 

The  early  disciples  were  recognized  as  followers 
of  Jesus  because  of  their  resemblance  to  him.  The 
fruit  must  be  of  the  nature  of  the  vine,  and  Jesus 
is  the  vine.  The  divine  life  always  to  the  divine 
likeness. 

5.  There  will  be  family  character.  There  will 
be  exalted  living.  The  mind  of  Christ  will  be  all- 
masterful  and  directing  here.  "Let  this  mind  be  in 
you,  which  was  also  in  Christ  Jesus."  To  have 
the  mind  of  another  reveals  real  identity.  It  is  to 
have  his  way  of  feeling,  and  doing,  and  living.  To 
have  the  mind  of  Christ  must  work  a  great  re- 
semblance to  him  in  character.  That  mind  will 
work  out  a  pattern  for  our  conduct,  and  will  fashion 
us  after  his  divine  image.  Rooted  and  grounded 
in  God  and  not  in  alien  soil,  how  can  we  grow  other 
than  into  the  divine  likeness?  There  is  no  tend- 
ency sinward  in  that  life  that  gives  sonship.  What 
shall  we  do  then  ?  Give  up  in  despair  by  yielding  to 
the  feeling  that  one  can  never  live  this  Hfe,  and  thus 
keep  on  lapsing  into  sin?    If  Christ  rules  in  a  heart, 

160 


Some  of  the  Characteristics  of  Sonship 

the  very  opposite  feeling  will  obtain  and  stimulate 
the  feeling  of  hope  and  zealous  activity  in  the 
opposite  direction. 

The  divine  nature  never  sins,  whether  in  us  or  in 
Christ,  and  when  that  nature  becomes  our  life,  as 
Paul  said  it  was  his,  we  are  at  an  end  with  sin- 
ning.   "For  me  to  live  is  Christ,"  is  a  very  different 
life  from  for  me  to  live  is  self.     Self  is  the  sin- 
ning life,  Christ  is  the  unsinning  life.     When  we 
become  a  son  of  God  our  life  must  be  and  is  very 
different   from  what  it  was  before.     If  different, 
how  different?    Certainly  in  that  of  the  moral  life.' 
It  cannot  be  what  it  was  before.    The  whole  moral 
atmosphere  is  changed.     If  "he  that  committeth  sin 
is  of  the  devil,"  (I.  John  3:8,)  then  can  God's  sons 
live  that  kind  of  a  life  and  still  maintain  the  divine 
character?    John  says  that  God's  sons  do  not  sin,, 
and  if  they  do,  what,  then,  is  the  moral  difference 
between  the  two  classes  named?     Is  there  not,  in 
fact,   a   mighty   contrast?  The   one   is   born    from 
above,  and  belongs  to  another  world.     He  has  his 
citizenship  in  heaven.     The  othei  is  from  beneath, 
and  belongs  to  this  world  which  is  enmity  against 
God.    The  one  is  unhappy  in  pure  and  clean  society  ; 
the  other  is  miserable  and  unhappy  in  sinful  en- 
vironments.   A  pure  nature  shrinks  and  recoils  from 
sm  as  from  a  deadly  poison.     The  one  has  differ- 
ent blood  in  him,  and  blood  and  birth  tell.     Sin  and 
sonship  cannot  be  bound  up  in  the  same  life.    When 
Jesus  becomes  our  life  and  helper,  then  right  doing 
becomes  easy,  and  wrong  doing  becomes  hard  and 
difficult;    so   difficult   as    to    be    expressed    by   the 
word  "cannot."     When  "the  law  of  the  spirit  of 

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The  Exalted  Life 

life"  is  within  and  ruling,  then  it  is  easy  to  over- 
come the  "law  of  sin  and  death." 

Let  every  child  of  God  take  sides  with  the  law 
of  the  spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus.  Christ  is 
stronger  than  the  "world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil." 
"Greater  is  he  that  is  in  you  than  he  that  is  in 
the  world." 

6.  God's  sons  will  be  devoted  to  their  Father's 
interests  beyond  anything  else.  This  devotion  is 
seen  in  the  elder  brother  of  this  family  when  he 
was  only  twelve  years  of  age,  in  the  words,  "Wist 
ye  not  that  I  must  be  about  my  Father's  business?" 
These  words  addressed  to  his  earthly  parents  sound 
as  though  he  was  already  throwing  off  his  obliga- 
tion to  them.  How  early  this  divine  conviction  came 
into  play  in  his  life!  His  Father's  business  was 
the  only  business  that  he  had  on  earth.  It  was 
"his  meat  and  his  drink  to  do  the  will  of  his 
Father." 

What  business  has  any  of  God's  sons  on  earth 
aside  from  that  will  ?  Jesus  makes  the  kingdom  of 
God  first  in  importance  in  all  earthly  pursuits. 
As  previously  stated,  this  kingdom  can  be  entered 
only  by  the  new  birth,  and  when  so  entered  the 
things  and  the  interests  of  that  kingdom  become 
primal  in  importance  and  claim.  This  world  be- 
comes first  with  the  man  that  has  no  higher  birth 
than  that  of  the  flesh;  but  when  one  is  begotten 
by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  enters  this  new  and  heavenly 
relationship,  then  everything  swings,  or  should,  to 
a  new  center  of  attraction,  and  comes  under  a 
new,   divine  commandery. 

162 


Some  of  the  Characteristics  of  Sonship 

This  interest  in  the  things  of  the  divine  kingdom 
is  but  natural  to  its  spiritual  adherents.  What 
do  strangers  and  aliens  care  for  a  man's  property? 
It  is  the  son  that  has  the  solicitude  and  devotion 
to  the  father's  interest,  for  he  is  the  heir.  God  has 
a  cause  on  earth,  and  his  children,  like  the  Elder 
Brother,  will  be  enlisted  for  its  welfare.  The  cry 
still  comes,  as  of  old,  "Son,  go  work  to-day  in  my 
vineyard."  The  great  Landlord  is  in  need  of  work- 
men, and  never  more  so  than  now. 

7.  There  will  be  the  home  feeling,  the  longing 
to  be  at  home.  One  said  of  old,  "Oh,  that  I  had 
wings  like  a  dove,  then  would  I  fly  away  and  be  at 
rest."  Simeon  said,  "Now,  Lord,  lettest  thou  thy 
servant  depart  in  peace,  for  mine  eyes  have  seen 
thy  salvation."  Many  weary,  anxious  ones  are 
waiting  for  orders  to  come  home.  The  orders  will 
come  by  and  by.  Then  everything  will  be  dropped, 
and,  Elijah-like,  the  chariot  will  be  entered  for  the 
home  journey. 

We  are  all  gliding  toward  that  city,  and  every 
passing  day  but  brings  us  nearer  to  it.  Already 
some  of  the  heavenly  odors  are  being  wafted  to  us. 
We  are  told  that  cattle,  when  long  at  sea,  and  coming 
near  enough  to  land  to  get  a  scent  of  the  clover 
fields,  seem  fairly  frenzied  with  delight.  Christo- 
pher Columbus,  the  great  discoverer,  knew  that  he 
was  getting  near  to  land  when  a  branch  of  a  tree 
with  a  bird's  nest  on  it,  came  drifting  by  his  vessel. 
So  there  come  signs  to  God's  children  that  they 
are  getting  near  home,  the  heavenly  home.  In  some 
strangely  happy  way  the  world  loses  its  attractions 
and  its  material  hold  on  the  pilgrim  to  the  celestial 

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The  Exalted  Life 

city,  and  a  deep,  quiet,  sweet  longing  comes  into  the 
soul  to  join  the  company  that  have  already  entered 
that  city. 

Reader,  are  you  going  there  ?    Then  be  ready. 

8.  There  will  be  a  desire  to  keep  up  a  constant 
communion  with  home.  There  must  not  be  any 
long  break  here.  The  windows  must  be  kept  open 
toward  this  heavenly  Jerusalem.  Jesus  kept  in 
close  touch  with  the  Father  and  home.  When  for 
only  one  moment  his  Father's  face  was  veiled 
from  him  on  the  cross,  it  was  more  than  his  sensi- 
tive spirit  could  endure  in  silence.  He  cried  out 
in  anguish,  *'My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou 
forsaken  me?" 

We  should  grow  alarmed  if  long  intervals  pass 
without  our  hearing  from  home.  How  word  and 
letters  from  friends  absent  from  home  help  to 
keep  up  the  connection  and  some  way  bridge  and 
shorten  the  distance  between.  There  is  a  wireless 
connection  between  the  child  here  and  the  home 
yonder.  How  sweet  the  message  that  is  whispered 
in  times  of  need,  loneliness,  and  sorrow !  Reader, 
do  you  get  communications  from  hom&?  If  so, 
how  often,  and  when  last? 

9.  There  will  be  a  conscious  assurance  of  the 
certainty  of  the  inheritance.  How  many  peo- 
ple these  days  want  to  become  rich.  Some 
hope  to  inherit  a  fortune  when  the  old 
folks  are  dead.  Then  some  want  to  marry  rich. 
Well,  here  is  a  chance  on  both  lines.  That  poor 
young  lawyer  that  married  the  wealthy  Miss  Van- 
derbilt  did  well  in  an  earthly  sense,  at  least.     He 

164 


Some  of  the  Characteristics  of  Sonship 

marries    his    millions   that   marries   a   good    wife, 
though  she  may  be  poor  in  earthly  goods. 

Now  for  a  moment  think  of  what  he  who 
is  espoused  to  Christ  gains.  He  marries  all  that 
Christ  is  heir  to.  Paul  says,  *lf  ye  be  Christ's, 
then  are  ye  heirs."  Again,  "If  a  son,  then  an  heir  of 
God  through  Christ."  Heir  of  God!  Who  can 
comprehend  it?  Then  again,  "And  if  children, 
then  heirs;  heirs  of  God,  and  joint  heirs  with 
Christ."  What  is  Christ's  heirship?  Paul  tells  us 
in  Hebrews  1 : 2,  that  God  hath  appointed  him 
heir  of  all  things."  John  says.  "The  Father  loveth 
the  son,  and  hath  given  all  things  into  his  hands." 
Who  can  measure  the  inheritance?  We  have  an 
earnest  of  the  inheritance  here  in  the  sealing  of 
the  Spirit.  There  will  be  no  failure  in  probating 
the  will ;  there  is  no  power  that  can  contest 
it.  Paul  says,  "All  things  are  yours,  and  ye  are 
Christs'  and  Christ  is  Gods." 

10.  As  sons  we  may  be  sure  of  a  joyous,  glad 
welcome.  We  have  the  welcome  given  in  the 
words,  "Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit 
the  kingdom  prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation 
of  the  world."  Some  one  will  be  at  the  beautiful 
gates  to  give  a  glorious  welcome.    Who  may  it  be? 

When  the  president  of  a  Christian  college  was 
dying  in  Kentucky,  just  as  he  was  breathing  his  last, 
he  looked  up  with  a  flash  of  joy  in  his  eyes  and 
cried  out,  "My  wife!"  and  fell  asleep. 


165 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

The  Dual  Nature,  Carnality  and  Spirituality, 
AS  Seen  in  the  Believer. 

The  writer  is  well  aware  that  he  here  enters  one 
of  the  most  difficult  and  critical  fields  of  thought  in 
all  the  realm  of  human  exposition  and  human  ex- 
perience. Few,  if  any,  students  of  God's  Word 
have  approached  this  question  as  found  in  the 
seventh  chapter  of  Romans  without  feeling  a  sense 
of  personal  insufficiency  to  make  clear  to  devout 
readers  the  true  relation  of  the  ''flesh"  and  the 
"spirit"  as  found  in  this  chapter.  It  has  puzzled 
the  profoundest  theological  writers,  been  the  source 
of  bitter  controversy  among  ministers  and  church 
members,  often  resulting  in  alienations  and  divis- 
ions that  have  been  sad  and  reproachful  to  the 
Church  of  Christ.  This  is  to  be  greatly  regretted, 
and  is  one  of  the  strongest  practical  proofs  that 
there  is  something  still  remaining  in  the  composite 
life  of  the  regenerate  that  is  most  degenerate  in  its 
tendency,  as  seen  in  I.  Corinthians  3 :  1-4. 

In  the  first  eight  chapters  of  Romans,  we  have 
a  wonderful  condensation  of  contrasted  subjects, 
such  as  the  mortal  body,  the  flesh,  the  mind,  eternal 
life,  law,  grace,  sin,  death;  Adam's  disobedience, 
Christ's  obedience,  the  old  man,  the  new  man,  all 
of  a  very  fundamental  character,  and  of  the  ut- 
most interest  to  every  Christian  believer  that  wants 
to  be  right  in  heart  and  life. 

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The   Dual    Nature,    Carnality     and    Spirituality 

But  with  all  the  intricate  perplexities  that  con- 
front the  student  and  exegete  of  scriptural  teach- 
ings, it  must  be  that  there  is  a  safe  and  sane 
interpretation  that  can  be  given  to  this  portion  of 
the  Word.  If  not,  then  why  written  ?  Was  it  not, 
with  other  portions  of  the  Scriptures,  written  for 
our  learning?  Being  so  fundamentally  related  to 
the  highest  living  and  experience  of  the  Christian 
believer,  surely  it  must  have  its  basis  in  fact  and 
and  not  in  fiction. 

To  be   frank  with  ourselves  and  honest  in   our 
purpose  in  the  study  of  this  question,  may  we  not 
find  a  sly  and  critical  evasion  of  the  real  issue  at 
stake?     To  one  that  wants  to  be  right  at  any  cost, 
and  that  is  willing  to  look  himself  square  in  the 
face  as  revealed  in  the  divine  mirror,  the  mist  of 
self-conceit   and   self-security   will   give   way   to   a 
clear  and  open  vision.     Is  this  not  clearly  indicated 
in   the   seventh   and   eighth   chapters   of   Romans? 
Paul  was  living,  as  he  often  affirms  in  his  writings, 
a  godly  life  as  a  Jew,  but  when  he  was  converted 
new  light  came  upon  the  law— under  which  he  had 
been  living  according  to  the   letter— and   he   now 
saw  as  he  had  not  seen  before  its  spiritual  content. 
He  now  perceived   that  the   "law   was   spiritual." 
This  he  had  never  seen  before,  and  could  not  see 
while  in  his  natural  state. 

This  experience  of  Paul  reveals  a  fundamental 
pnnciple  in  the  life  of  Christians  in  general.  There 
is  one  phase  of  the  law,  the  highest  and  most  com- 
manding, that  is  hidden  from  view  and  cannot  be 
of  any  conscious  and  convincing  force  to  the  indi- 
vidual until  there  comes  into  that  individual  a  life 


167 


The  Exalted  Life 

that  in  nature  and  character  is  in  correspondence  with 
this  phase  of  the  law;  namely,  spiritual. 

This  is  made  very  plain  in  I.  Corinthians  2 :  14, 
where  Paul  says,  'The  natural  man  receiveth  not 
the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God;  for  they  are  fool- 
ishness unto  him ;  neither  can  he  know  them,  be- 
cause they  are  spiritually  discerned."  The  law 
of  God,  like  his  Word,  has  a  spiritual  as  well  as 
a  literal  meaning,  both  of  which  we  deal  with. 
When  the  life  is  on  no  higher  plane  than  that  of 
the  letter,  which  relates  specifically  to  the  outward 
life,  there  may  be  no  sense  of  guilt  or  condemna- 
tion; but  when  the  higher,  the  spiritual  import  of 
the  law  is  revealed,  then  legal  justification  is  at  an 
end. 

Paul  makes  this  plain  when  he  says,  "I  was  alive 
without  the  law  once  ['newness  of  spirit,'  in  con- 
trast with  'the  oldness  of  the  letter']  ;  but  when 
the  commandment  came,  sin  revived  and  I  died." 
(Romans  7:9.)  Here  the  apostle  came  under  the 
dispensation  of  the  Spirit,  and  now  his  nature  and 
service  must  be  spiritual ;  his  worship  must  be  with 
the  heart  and  not  with  the  lips  only.  He  must  now 
live  a  new,  an  inward  life,  and  not  an  outward  one 
only,  as  he  had  been  doing  as  a  Pharisee. 

Jesus  makes  this  very  plain  when  addressing  the 
Pharisees.  A  certain  Pharisee  invited  Jesus  to 
dine  with  him,  and  in  doing  so  Jesus  violated  the 
traditional  custom  by  sitting  down  to  meat  with  un- 
washed hands.  This  caused  the  Pharisee  to  marvel, 
and  was  made  the  occasion  of  teaching  a  great 
lesson.  Jesus  said,  "Now  do  ye  Pharisees  make 
clean  the  outside  of   the  cup  and  the  plater;  but 

168 


The   Dual   Nature,    Carnality    and    Spirituality 

your  inward  part  is  full  of  ravening  and  wicked- 
ness." (Luke  11 :  39.)  In  Matthew  23  :  28,  this  is 
made  very  forcible.  "Ye  outwardly  appear  right- 
eous unto  men,  but  within  ye  are  full  of  hypocrisy 
and  iniquity."  (See  verses  25,  26,  and  27  of  this 
same  chapter.) 

These  are  searching  words,  as  all  Christ's  words 
are,  and  are  well  worth  considering  in  this  con- 
nection. Paul  being  a  Pharisee  of  the  Pharisees,  as 
he  says,  "the  son  of  a  Pharisee,"  "after  the  most 
straitest  [strictest]  sect  of  our  religion  I  lived  a 
Pharisee."  Hear  him  again  as  he  qualifies  the 
flesh :  "For  we  are  the  circumcision,  which  worship 
God  in  the  spirit,  and  rejoice  in  Christ  Jesus,  and 
have  no  confidence  in  the  flesh.  Though  I  might 
also  have  confidence  in  the  flesh.  If  any  other  man 
thinketh  he  hath  whereof  he  might  trust  in  the 
flesh,  I  more :  circumcised  the  eighth  day,  of  the 
stock  of  Israel,  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin,  an  He- 
brew of  the  Hebrews ;  as  touching  the  law,  a  Phari- 
see ;  concerning  zeal,  persecuting  the  church ;  touch- 
ing the  righteousness  which  is  in  the  law,  blameless." 
(Philippians  3:3-6.) 

Here  we  have  a  very  striking  definition  of  a 
form  of  legal  righteousness  with  which  Paul  doubt- 
less had  to  wrestle.  He  was  consecrated  by  cir- 
cumcision, was  of  Israelitish  blood,  of  one  of 
the  most  tender  and  exalted  tribal  relations,  and 
was  a  descendant  of  the  greatest  nation  (the  only 
religious  nation  up  to  Christ's  advent)  known  to 
history.  As  a  religionist  he  belonged  to  the  fore- 
most— the  most   popular   and   influential — class   of 

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The  Exalted  Life 

his  day,  and  distinguished  himself  for  religious 
zeal  and  blamelessness  of  life. 

Who  can  think  for  a  moment  that  it  was  not  one 
of  the  fiercest  and  most  strenuous  battles  that  Paul 
had  to  fight?  Who  can  measure  its  scope  and  the 
depth  of  agony  involved  in  sundering  all  this  re- 
lationship to  kindred,  church,  training,  and  the 
hope  of  future  greatness  and  glory,  all  based  on 
centuries  of  religious  history,  all  evolved  from  di- 
vine covenants  and  promises?  It  meant  to  throw 
off  the  bonds  and  covenants  that  had  grown  to  be 
more  sacred  and  dear  than  even  life  itself,  and  with 
his  back  turned  on  it  all,  at  once  face  another  way. 

But  Paul  met  the  issue  bravely  and  unhesitat- 
ingly. He  says :  ''What  things  were  gain  to  me, 
those  I  counted  loss  for  Christ.  Yea  doubtless,  and 
I  count  all  things  but  loss  for  the  excellency  of  the 
knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  my  Lord :  for  whom  I 
have  suffered  the  loss  of  all  things,  and  do  count 
them  but  dung  [refuse],  that  I  may  win  Christ,  and 
be  found  in  him,  not  having  mine  own  righteous- 
ness, which  is  of  the  law,  but  that  which  is  through 
the  faith  of  Christ,  the  righteousness  which  is  of 
God  by  faith."     (Philippians  3:7-9.) 

To  his  own  righteousness  and  that  of  his  kindred, 
which  was  of  the  law,  Paul  had  to  die.  He  says 
that  we  were  made  dead  to  the  law  through  the  body 
of  Christ,  and  for  the  reason  that  we  might  be  re- 
leased from  it  in  order  to  union  with  another. 
(Romans  7:4.) 

Here  Paul  got  a  new  vision  of  righteousness,  that 
which  was  deeper  and  higher  than  the  letter  of  the 
law.    The  latter  he  had  kept  and  lived  by  for  years ; 

170 


The   Dual   Nature,    Carnality    and   Spirituality 

but  now  he  saw  that  another  had  taken  his  place 
under  this  phase  of  the  law,  had  tasted  death  for 
him  that  he  might  thereby  be  delivered  from  the 
penalty  of  the  law,  that  being  dead  wherein  he  was 
held,  he  might  now  serve  in  the  newness  of  the 
Spirit  and  not  in  the  oldness  of  the  letter.  (Romans 
7:6.)  Here  he  saw  that  the  works  of  the  law,  as 
a  means  of  salvation,  were  made  good  by  one  that 
had  fulfilled  the  law's  demands,  and  thereby  made 
the  way  possible  for  one  to  be  saved  without  the 
deeds  of  the  law ;  namely,  by  grace.  This  form 
of  life  was  largely  veiled,  and  yet  all  the  time  being 
revealed  by  the  law,  so  that  the  ideal  life  in  the 
Old  Testament  was  very  crude  and  imperfect,  "for 
the  law  made  nothing  perfect  but  the  bringing  in 
of  a  better  hope,"  a  living  hope. 

Here  we  have  the  two  covenants,  the  imperfect 
and  the  periect,  in  contrast,  the  one  now  displacing 
or  annulling  the  other.  These  covenants  are  desig- 
nated as  carnal  and  spiritual,  the  one  relating  more 
especially  to  the  outward,  the  fleshly  life,  while  the 
other  relates  specifically  to  the  inward,  the  spiritual 
life. 

The  Tews  were  God's  people  nationally,  his  na- 
tional Israel,  called  his  son,  (Exodus  4:22;  Hosea 
11:1;  13:9-13,)  and  so  were  under  covenants 
and  laws  relating  to  their  temporal  life  and  tem- 
poral welfare.  It  might  be  well  to  trace  this  thought 
for  a  moment,  as  given  in  the  Scriptures,  for  the 
fuller  illucidation  of  the  two  phases  of  life  in  men- 
tion, ihe  carnal  and  the  spiritual. 

God's  first  covenant  was  with  Adam,  and  was  for 
universal  dominion.     (Genesis  1  :  26;  Psalm  8:  4-8.) 

171 


The  Exalted  Life 

As  the  sign  and  seal  of  this  kingly  dominion  and  the 
completed  work  of  creation,  God  instituted  the  Sab- 
bath. Here  the  earth  was  man's  kingdom,  and  in  it 
he  was  humanly  supreme.  This  was  a  temporal  do- 
minion, though  as  yet  in  an  unfallen  world. 

The  second  covenant  was  with  Noah,  and  was 
for  the  protection  of  the  material  world  from  an- 
other judgment  flood.  (Genesis  9:  9-10.)  Here  the 
token  was  the  rainbow.  Man  failed  under  con- 
science, which  was  the  law  of  the  race  after  the 
fall,  and  this  dispensation  ended  in  the  utter  destruc- 
tion of  everything  outside  of  the  ark. 

The  third  covenant  was  with  Abraham,  and  re- 
lated to  both  temporal  and  spiritual  blessing.  For 
the  temporal  see  Genesis  13:  14-17;  15:  18;  24:35. 
For  the  spiritual  blessings  see  Genesis  15:6;  John 
8 :  56.  The  sign  and  seal  of  this  covenant  was  cir- 
cumcision. To  Abraham  and  to  his  national  poster- 
ity it  was  literal ;  but  to  those  that  are  "of  the  faith 
of  Abraham;  who  is  the  father  of  us  all,"  it  is 
spiritual,  of  the  heart.      (Romans  2:28,29.) 

The  fourth  covenant  was  with  Moses,  relating 
specifically  to  obedience,  and  hence  was  a  cove- 
nant of  works,  of  law.  (Exodus  23:22-25.)  As 
the  covenant  with  Abraham  was  one  of  faith,  the 
covenant  with  Moses  naturally  follows  in  the  or- 
der— works  following  faith — it  was  first  believe,  and 
then  express  this  belief  in  action.  The  sign  of 
this  covenant  was  the  ark,  called  the  ark  of  the 
covenant.  This  ark  was  made  the  receptacle  of 
the  law,  the  golden  pot  of  manna,  and  Aaron's  rod 
that  budded.  (Exodus  25:16-22.)  Elsewhere, 
(Hebrews  9:4),  we  are  told  of  the  contents  of  the 

172 


The   Dual   Nature,    Carnality    and   Spirituality 

ark,  all  of  which  made  it  a  very  sacred  memorial 
to  the  children  of  Israel— God's  mercy-seat,  the 
law,  wilderness  food,  and  a  budding  rod— as  well 
as  typical  of  what  was  to  come  at  the  end  of  the 
Old  Testament  dispensation. 

The  fifth  covenant  was  with  David,  and  relates 
to  kingship— a  throne,  a  scepter,  a  crown,  and  royal 
descendants.      (II.    Samuel    7:12-29.)      The    sign 
and   seal   of  this   covenant   was  the  building  of  a 
temple,  the  most  wonderful  building  ever  erected 
on  the  earth,  and  well  typified  the  spiritual  temple 
of  God  as  represented  by  Christ's  body,  his  Church. 
The  Holy  Spirit  is  now  building  a  habitation   for 
God  out  of  believers.     "Ye  also,  as  lively  stones, 
are  built  up  a  spiritual  house,  etc."     (I.  Peter  2:  5.) 
The  sixth  and  final  covenant  that  we  note  is  that 
made  with  the  Church,  and  relates  specifically  to 
Christ's  return  to  this  earth  to  close  up  the  gospel 
age.      This    return    was    told   to   the    disciples    by 
an  angel,  saying:  "This  same  Jesus,  which  is  taken 
up   from  you   into   heaven,  shall  so  come  in  like 
manner  as  ye  have  seen  him  go  into  heaven."    (Acts 
1 :  11.)     Jesus  himself  said,  "If  I  go  and  prepare  a 
place  for  you,  I  will  come  again,  and  receive  you 
unto  myself."     (John  14:3-7.)     The  sign  here  is 
the  Lord's  Supper,  which  is  to  be  observed  as  a 
memorial  until  his  return,  "for  as  oft  as  ye  eat  this 
bread  and  drink  this  cup,  ye  do  show  the  Lord's 
death  till  he  come."     (I.  Corinthians  11 :  26.  )  Here 
Calvary  and  the  return  of  Jesus  bound  and  span 
the    Church-age,    the    gospel    dispensation,    which 
events  are  to  be  kept  alive  in  the  memory  of  the 
Church  by  the  sacrament  of  the   Lord's   Supper. 

173 


The  Exalted  Life 

How  important  its  observance !  Do  Christians  so 
consider  it? 

Now,  the  writer  has  traced  these  covenants 
through  in  this  brief  and  summary  way  for  the 
purpose,  if  possible,  of  making  the  contrast  the 
more  striking  between  the  old  and  the  new,  the 
carnal  and  the  spiritual,  as  revealed  more  specially 
and  specifically  in  the  New  Testament  life  in  con- 
trast with  that  of  the  Old  Testament,  The  one, 
the  Old,  was  of  necessity,  owing  to  the  moral  and 
spiritual  distance  existing  between  God  and  man, 
characterized  as  carnal,  earthly,  fleshly.  Paul 
makes  the  characterization  very  strong  in  the  words, 
**Who  is  made,  not  after  the  law  of  a  carnal  com- 
mandment, but  after  the  power  of  an  endless  life." 
(Hebrew  7:16.)  Here  the  contrast  is  between 
the  Aaronic  priesthood,  which  made  nothing  perfect, 
and  Christ  who  *'was  made  surety  for  a  better, 
a  perfect  convenant."  (Hebrews  7:22.)  "For 
what  the  law  could  not  do,  in  that  it  was  weak 
through  the  flesh,  God  sending  his  own  Son  in  the 
likeness  of  sinful  flesh,  and  for  sin,  condemned  sin 
in  the  flesh :  that  the  righteousness  of  the  law  might 
be  fulfilled  in  us,  who  walk  not  after  the  flesh, 
but  after  the  Spirit."     (Romans  8:3,  4.) 

Speaking  of  the  first  tabernacle  Paul  calls  it  a 
"worthy  sanctuary  which,"  he  says,  "was  a  figure 
for  the  time  then  present,  in  which  were  oflfered 
both  gifts  and  sacrifices,  that  could  not  make  him 
that  did  the  service  perfect,  as  pertaining  to  the 
conscience."  Why?  Because  it  consisted  "only  in 
meats  and  drinks,  and  divers  washings,  and  carnal 

174 


The   Dual   Nature,    Carnality    and   Spirituality 

ordinances,  imposed  on  them  until  the  time  of  ref- 
ormation."    (Hebrews  9:  10.) 

By  ''reformation,"  Paul  evidently  refers  to  the 
new  order,  or  the  setting  things  right,  or  after  a 
more  perfect  order;  the  contrast  being  between  the 
old  covenant  which  could  not  take  away  sin,  or  the 
consciousness  of  sin,  and  the  new  covenant  which 
purifies  from  all  moral  and  spiritual  defilement  by 
the  blood  of  Christ.  This  cannot  be  expressed  in 
a  better  or  clearer  way  than  in  the  language  of 
Scripture  itself.  ''For  the  law  having  a  shadow  of 
good  things  to  come,  and  not  the  very  image  [sub- 
stance] of  the  things,  can  never  with  those  sacri- 
fices which  they  offered  year  by  year  continually 
make  the  comers  thereunto  perfect.  For  then 
would  they  not  have  ceased  to  be  offered?  because 
that  the  worshipers  once  purged  should  have  had  no 
more  conscience  of  sins.  But  in  these  sacrifices  there 
is  a  remembrance  again  made  of  sins  every  year. 
For  it  is  not  possible  that  the  blood  of  bulls  and  of 
goats  should  take  away  sins.  He  taketh  away  the 
first  that  he  may  establish  the  second."  (Hebrews 
10:1-4,9.) 

This  language  of  the  Apostle  Paul  seems  al- 
most the  language  of  severity.  Elsewhere  the  law 
is  called  the  law  of  a  carnal  commandment,  and  it 
was  set  aside  because  of  its  unprofitableness  in  ac- 
complishing man's  final  redemption.  Time  had  put 
the  marks  of  age  upon  it,  by  reason  of  which  it 
was  ready  to  vanish  away.  Here  was  the  want  of 
abiding  reality.  It  was  more  of  the  nature  of  a  shad- 
ow than  a  real  substance.  It  could  renew  the  remem- 
brance of  sin  but  it  could  not  take  it  away.    It  left 

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The  Exalted  Life 

the  worshiper  all  his  life-time  subject  to  bondage 
from  fear  of  death  and  from  being  under  the  rudi- 
ments of  the  world. 

In  Christ  there  is  perfect  freedom  from  fear,  for 
this  love  casteth  out  all  fear.  He  puts  sin  away  by 
his  incoming  righteousness;  he  writes  the  law  in 
the  heart  and  not  on  tables  of  stone;  it  was  the 
letter  that  was  written  on  stone,  it  is  the  spirit- 
principle,  and  the  power  of  obedience  and  of  an 
endless  life  that  is  written  in  the  heart.  It  was  this 
that  made  Paul  "delight  in  the  law  of  God  after 
the  inward  man."  The  Spirit  was  in  the  law;  but 
it  is  now  in  the  man,  and  working  through  the  spir- 
itual faculties  against  his  embodied  condition 
brought  on  the  war  that  was  waging  "in  his  mem- 
bers." He  was  the  sould  arbiter  between  the  con- 
tending forces,  and  must  decide  with  which  party 
he  will  ally  himself  for  final  victory. 

Here  is  the  field  for  Christian  ithought  and 
honest  heart  decision.  A  member  of  Christ's  body, 
a  branch  of  the  divine  vine;  but  are  there  no  de- 
fects in  this  individual  member,  and  is  there  no 
shortage  in  the  fruit  bearing?  If  so,  why?  Is  there 
any  defect  in  the  head,  or  any  lack  of  fruit-produc- 
ing qualities  in  the  vine?  Is  the  member  perfectly 
fulfilling  his  functions  in  the  body,  and  is  the 
branch  bearing  its  "much  fruit"  ? 

Christ  in  the  believer  is  indeed  a  perfect  worker, 
but  is  the  agent  in  whom  and  through  whom  he 
wcirks  a  perfect  instrument  of  service?  So  yielded 
as  to  be  always  usable? 

There  is  no  question  as  to  the  divine  sufficiency 
in   Christ  for  every  need  of  fallen  man,  but  this 

176 


The   Dual   Nature,    Carnality    and   Spirituality 

is  not  always  made  available  by  the  believer  as  in- 
tended. Hence  the  failures  that  mark  the  career 
of  so  many  Christians,  and  the  torturing  pain  and 
the  moan  of  shame  resulting  therefrom.  There  can 
be  no  question  about  the  penalty  of  sin  being 
put  away  by  Christ's  death ;  but  the  main,  practical, 
experimental  question  with  the  believer,  is  the  de- 
gree of  his  appropriation  of  Christ's  life  as  a 
means  of  deliverance  from,  and  the  defense  against 
sin  in  his  own  life.  There  is  no  hope  whatsoever 
for  the  sinner  under  the  law.  His  only  hope  is 
in  the  nullification  of  its  penalty,  and  an  acquired 
righteousness  that  frees  him  from  the  claims  of 
the  law.  This  twofold  benefit  is  secured  to  him 
only  in  Christ.  On  the  side  of  law  Christ's  right- 
eousness IS  imputed  to  him,  but  on  the  side  of  grace 
it  is  imparted  to  him,  so  that  in  form  and  in  fact, 
both  judicially  and  experimentally,  he  has  his  stand- 
ing with  his  risen  Lord ;  but  only  on  the  ground  of 
his  accepting  it  by  faith. 

This  word  "imputed"  occurs  quite  frequently 
in  both  the  Old  and  New  Testaments.  It  occurs 
some  seven  times  in  the  fourth  chapter  of  Romans 
and  covers  not  only  the  ground  of  law,  but  of 
grace  as  well.  Hence,  Paul  says,  that  it  was  not 
written  for  those  under  the  law  only,  ''but  for  us 
also,  to  whom  it  shall  be  imputed,  if  we  believe  on 
him  that  raised  up  Jesus  our  Lord  from  the  dead; 
who  was  delivered  for  our  ofifenses,  and  was  raised 
again  for  our  justification."  (Romans  4:24,  25.) 
This  achievement  that  was  first  only  a  reckoning 
must  be  made  actual  and  real  in  the  life  and  ex- 
perience  of   the   believer,    or   else,    so    far   as    he 

177 


The  Exalted  Life 

is  concerned,  Christ  died  in  vain.  Christ  as  cer- 
tainly stands  for  our  redemption  as  Adam  stands 
for  our  ruin ;  but  the  one  is  ours  by  unavoidable 
inheritance,  while  the  other  is  made  ours  by  per- 
sonal choice. 

Christ  does  not  take  us  from  under  moral  law 
.^o  that  we  are  no  longer  in  its  sphere ;  but  he  does 
through  his  death  deliver  us  from  its  curse,  and 
then  by  his  life  empower  us  to  live  in  harmony  with 
revealed  law.  Paul  makes  this  very  plain  when  he 
says,  ''But  if,  while  we  seek  to  be  justified  by  Christ, 
we  ourselves  also  are  found  sinners,  is  therefore 
Christ  the  minister  of  sin?  God  forbid."  (Gala- 
tians  2:  17.) 

Xaw  ministers  death  because  it  reveals  sin,  the 
penalty  of  which  is  death.  Christ  ministers  life 
aiid  righteousness,  so  that  all  that  have  union  with 
him  cannot  be  living  in  the  practice  of  sin  and  still 
claim  justification. 

Here  justification  is  made  a  very  high  state  of 
living,  and  he  who  claims  this  standing  in  Christ 
and  at  the  same  time  practices  sin,  dishonors  and  de- 
fames the  life  of  Christ.  Christ's  mission  is  to  de- 
liver from  sin  and  not  to  encourage  and  promote 
sin.  The  law  ministers  death,  Christ  ministers 
life,  so  these  two  can  never  work  together  in  the 
same  individual  to  the  promotion  of  his  justifica- 
tion and  final  salvation. 

This  was  the  struggle,  we  repeat,  in  the  early 
stage  of  Paul's  life  as  a  Jewish  believer,  and  in 
some  measure  characterizes  the  experience  of  every 
earnest  Christian,  especially  in  the  early  stages  of 
that  experience. .    Paul  was  what  might  be  called 

178 


The   Dual   Nature,    Carnality    and    Spirituality 

a  Jewish  Christian,  and  belongs  to  an  ancient  and, 
until  his  day,  the  only  religious  stock  that  could 
claim  to  be  of  divine  origin  and  approval.  This, 
in  contrast  with  the  new,  the  spiritual,  was  called 
carnal.  This  is  noted  in  Hebrews  7 :  16,  where  we 
read  of  "the  law  of  a  carnal  commandment,"  and 
again  chapters  nine  and  ten,  where  we  read  of 
"carnal  ordinances." 

Now,  living  as  he  did  under  this  order  of  things, 
his  life  was  typed  after  them,  and  hence  could  not 
be  judged  by  anything  higher  than  the  system 
r.nder  which  he  lived.  It  was  under  this  system 
that  he  claimed  to  be  alive.  "I  was  alive  without 
the  law  once ;  but  when  the  commandments  came, 
sin  revived  and  I  died."  The  consciousness  of 
spiritual  law  brought  consciousness  of  sin.  Then 
the  battle  opened  between  what  is  called  the  carnal 
and  the  spiritual  life.  It  was  a  fight  between  law- 
forces,  the  "law  of  God  after  the  inward  man," 
the  heart-life,  and  the  law  reigning  in  the  mem- 
bers, "my  members,"  Paul  calls  it,  resulting  in  cap- 
tivity. Here  the  forces  of  evil,  environing  the  new 
life,  is  called  a  law,  because  of  its  oft  controlling 
power  in  the  life.  "Members,"  as  used  here,  is  a 
very  strong  expression,  indicating  as  it  does,  not 
only  the  extent  of  this  force,  but  also  their  being 
agencies  and  instruments  of  sin. 

Here  is  a  wide  field  for  thought  and  a  strong 
rrgency  for  prayer  and  a  complete  surrender  of 
this  citadel  of  sin  to  be  transformed  into  a  temple 
of  God.  Christ  within,  but  with  no  suitable  instru- 
ments with  which  to  work,  and  no  suitable  dwelling 
m  which  to  live,  what  can  he  do? 

179 


The  Exalted  Life 

It  is  the  unit  or  oneness  of  man's  life  and  not 
a  dual  nature  that  Christ  wants  in  which  to  live 
and  through  which  to  work.  To  one  of  the  seven 
churches  he  said,  ''I  know  thy  works,  that  thou 
art  neither  cold  nor  hot:  I  would  that  thou  wert 
cold  or  hot."  In  the  Old  Testament  it  was,  "Choose 
ye  this  day,  whom  ye  will  serve" ;  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment it  is,  ''Choose  what  ye  will  be."  There  must  be 
some  determining  principle  in  the  life  that  gives 
it  a  moral  classification,  either  for  good  or  for 
evil,  and  then  there  must  be  a  definite  choice  be- 
tween the  two.  Here  the  power  of  the  will  in  de- 
termining sin  to  the  individual  is  seen.  Perception 
of  sin  there  may  be,  but  still  no  condemnation.  The 
same  may  be  true  of  righteousness.  It  may  delight 
the  imagination,  and  may  be  a  very  charm  to  the 
individual,  and  still  not  be  an  actual  possession. 
There  may  be  an  intense  longing,  as  in  the  case  of 
Paul,  to  do  right,  it  may  even  be  easy  to  will  to  do 
right,  but  to  carry  out  that  which  in  action  is  not  al- 
ways easy.  This  "other  law,"  having  its  location  and 
action  in  the  earthly  nature,  is  the  cause  of  the 
strife  and  the  oft-repeated  failures.  This  will  be 
further  considered  in  the  ensuing  chapter. 


180 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  Influence  of  the  Carnal  on  the  Spiritual 
IN  THE  Believer. 

We  may  think  and  talk  about  battlefields,  and 
may  condense  into  one  sweeping  vision  all  the  blood 
and  carnage  of  these  fields  through  all  the  ages, 
but  when  it  is  done  we  have  only  a  faint  hint  of 
the  struggle  and  blood  that  a  ransomed  and  tri- 
umphant soul  has  cost  in  winning  the  goal  of  eter- 
nal blessedness. 

The  nature  of  the  struggle,  the  character  of  the 
contestants,  and  the  interest  involved,  outmeasure 
and  outweigh  all  earthly  achievements  and  all  tem- 
poral gains.  Here  are  eternal  values  that  shall  live 
and  last  when  time  has  closed  its  books  and  stars 
and  suns  have  faded  out  in  eternal  night.  "The 
world  passeth  away,  and  the  lust  thereof ;  but  he 
that  doeth  the  will  of  God  abideth  forever." 

The  human  heart  is  the  great  moral  battlefield 
of  the  world.  In  a  generic  sense  the  heart  stands 
for  the  whole  moral  nature,  and  is  the  home  of  all 
the  good  and  the  evil  of  that  nature.  In  a  sense 
it  is  the  moral  ego  of  the  man,  and  yet  it  may 
have  various  forms  of  manifestation  and  activity. 
It  stands  for  both  unity  and  variety,  which  makes 
it  exceedingly  complex  in  the  Scriptures.  It  covers 
the  ground  of  the  intellect,  the  emotions,  and  the 
will.  Solomon  says  that  "out  of  the  heart  are  the 
issues  of  life.''    Jesus  says,  "Out  of  the  heart  pro- 

181 


The  Exalted  Life 

ceedeth  evil  thoughts,  murders,  adulteries,  fornica- 
tion, thefts,  false  witnesses,  blasphemies."  (Mat- 
thew 15:  19.)  'These,"  he  says  "defile  the  man." 
In  this  connection  read  Galatians  5:19-21.  Here 
are  seventeen  of  the  foulest  things  that  the  human 
imagination  could  ever  conceive  of,  all  the  works 
of  the  flesh.  Now  put  with  these  the  four  addi- 
tional ones  that  Jesus  names — ''evil  thoughts, 
thefts,  false  witnesses,  and  blasphemies" — and  we 
have  twenty-one  works  to  blacken  human  charac- 
ter. Note  that  these  are  all  "works,"  not  "fruits." 
These  are  the  things  that  are  being  enacted  to-day 
in  human  life,  not  one  of  which  the  individual  wants 
done  to  himself.  And  yet  these  things  are  lived 
and  worked  out  in  the  lives  of  millions  of  human 
beings.  Who  can  think  of  it?  Reader,  stop  and 
reflect  on  these  things  for  a  moment,  and  then  ask 
yourself  whether  you  want  to  live  such  a  life  as  is 
here  described,  or  live  in  a  community  or  city  made 
up  of  such  characters,  or  in  a  world  where  these 
things  have  the  ascendant  rule.  It  is  utterly  un- 
thinkable. 

These  all  come  of  the  flesh,  are  the  doings  of  the 
flesh.  How  different  the  character  produced  by  the 
Holy  Spirit,  the  fruit  that  is  borne  by  the  one  in 
whom  he  dwells  and  rules.  "The  fruit  of  the 
Spirit  is  love,  joy,  peace,  long  suffering,  gentle- 
ness, goodness,  faith,  meekness,  temperance ;  against 
which  there  is  no  law."     (Galatians  5:22,  23.) 

These  nine  graces  present  a  real  and  truly  beau- 
tiful portrait  of  Christ,  and  from  him,  as  the  root 
and  vine,  are  these  to  be  reproduced  in  the  life  of  his 
followers ;  and  when  in  full  ascendancy  are  to  so 

182 


The  Influence  of  the   Carnal  on  the  Spiritual 

supplant  and  annul  the  works  of  the  flesh  that  the 
believer  can  say  with  Paul,  "I  live,  and  yet  not  I, 
but  Christ  liveth  in  me."  But  before  this  profes- 
sion can  be  truthfully  made,  there  must  be  the 
"crucifixion  with  Christ,"  the  reckoning  with  the 
"old  man." 

Between  these  two  goals — God  and  Satan,  holi- 
ness and  sin,  life  and  death,  heaven  and  hell — man 
stands  as  a  real  definite  personality.  This  person- 
ality, very  marked  and  distinct  in  the  seventh  chap- 
ter of  Romans,  which  must  not  be  regarded  as  a 
myth,  an  allegory,  or  a  mere  figure  of  speech,  "a 
hyperbole  of  Oriental  rhetoric,"  but  as  a  fixed  and 
definite  reality.  Marriage  and  widowhood,  the 
relation  of  husband  and  wife,  and  the  severance 
of  this  relationship  by  death,  as  given  in  this  chapter 
are  fixed  realities  both  in  Scripture  and  human  ex- 
perience. Marriage  is  unity;  death  severs  this 
unity,  so  that  what  is  impossible  and  improper  be- 
fore death,  becomes  possible  and  proper  after  death. 
(Romans  7:  1-3.)  Paul  here  teaches  that  the  right- 
eousness by  law  and  the  righteousness  which  is 
by  faith  cannot  inhere  in  the  same  individual  at  the 
same  time.  This  is  classed  as  adultery,  and  de- 
bauches the  moral  life.  It  is  an  effort  to  establish 
two  modes  of  living  and  two  sources  of  righteous- 
ness. This  gave  Paul  his  deep  concern  for  the 
Roman  Christians,  of  whom  he  says,  "for  they  be- 
ing ignorant  of  God's  righteousness,  and  going 
about  to  establish  their  own  righteousness  have  not 
submitted  themselves  unto  the  righteousness  of  God. 
For  Christ  is  the  end  of  the  law  for  righteousness 
to  every  one  that  believeth."     (Romans  10:3,  4.) 

183 


The  Exalted  Life 

One's  ''own  righteousness"  is  an  effort  to  work 
out  under  law  a  character  that  only  Christ  can 
give.  It  is  well  estabHshed  in  the  Scriptures  that 
God  will  not  accept  or  approve  of  any  other  char- 
acter than  that  which  comes  through  acceptance 
of,  and  union  with  his  son.  "But  of  him  are  ye  in 
Christ  Jesus,  who  of  God  is  made  unto  us  wisdom, 
and  righteousness,  and  sanctification,  and  redemp- 
tion."     (I.  Corinthians  1 :  30.) 

It  is  well  to  note  the  personality  of  Paul  in  this 
conflict  with  sin  and  the  old  nature.  He  says :  ''I 
had  not  known  sin,"  "I  had  not  known  lust,"  "I 
was  alive,"  **sin  revived,  and  I  died."  "Sin  deceived 
me,  and  slew  me."  "I  am  carnal,  sold  under  sin," 
"That  which  I  do  I  allow  not;  for  what  I  would, 
that  do  I  not ;  but  what  I  hate,  that  do  I.  Now  then 
it  is  no  more  I  that  do  it,  but  sin  that  dwelleth  in 
me."  "For  the  good  that  I  would  I  do  not ;  but  the 
evil  which  I  would  not,  that  do  I."  "Now  if  I  do 
that  I  would  not,  it  is  no  more  I  that  do  it,  but  sin 

that  dwelleth  in  me I  find  a  law,  that,  when  I 

would  do  good,  evil  is  present  with  me.  For  I  de- 
light in  the  law  of  God  after  the  inward  man." 
"But  T  see  another  law  in  my  members,  warring 
against  the  law  of  my  mind,  and  bringing  me  into 
captivity  to  the  law  of  sin  which  is  in  my  members." 

These  somewhat  extended  quotations  have  been 
made  for  the  purpose  of  personifying  the  strife 
of  the  two  natures — the  old  Adamic  nature,  and 
the  new,  divine  nature,  received  through  regenera- 
tion— as  found  in,  and  confessed  to  by  Paul. 

It  is  worth  while  for  the  reader  to  note  that 
this  personality,  represented  by  "I"  and  "me,"  oc- 

1S4 


The  Influence   of  the  Carnal  on  the  Spiritual 

curs  over  forty  times  in  this  chapter  which  em- 
braces only  twenty-five  verses.  This  indicates  the 
intensity  of  the  struggle  to  be  right,  and  easily  re- 
minds one  of  the  prayer  of  David :  ''Search  me, 
O  God,  and  know  my  heart :  try  me,  and  know  my 
thoughts :  and  see  if  there  be  any  wicked  way  in 
me,  and  lead  me  in  the  way  everlasting.  (Psalms 
129:23,  24.)  Again,  "Examine  me,  O  Lord,  and 
prove  me;  try  my  reins  and  my  heart."  (Psalms 
26:2.)  Still  more  forcible  is  the  Fifty-first  Psalm, 
the  psalm  of  penitence. 

The  divine  scrutiny  is  here  invited,  and  the  in- 
most recesses  of  the  heart  are  laid  bare.  David 
was  ready  for  the  testing  ordeal  of  the  smelting 
fires,  for  he  wanted  to  be  pure  as  gold.  The  in- 
herent and  inherited  sinfulness  of  the  heart  as  dis- 
closed to  him  revealed  the  depth  of  the  requirements 
of  God's  law. 

In  Paul's  case  the  more  clearly  the  law  revealed, 
and  the  more  intensely  conscience  realized  sin,  the 
more  clearly  rises  before  him  the  divine  ideal  for 
man  under  grace.  Truth  within,  and  outward  con- 
formity to,  and  correspondence  with  that  truth,  be- 
came the  abounding  and  passionate  desire  of  his 
heart.  Seeing  it  to  be  otherwise  with  him  he  cries, 
"O  wretched  man  that  I  am !" 

Having  this  new  and  more  clearly  spiritual  mani- 
festation of  the  life  in  Christ  as  against  or  aside 
from  that  which  he  had  been  living  while  under 
the  law,  he  turns  with  all  the  fervor  of  his  soul  to 
its  discernment  and  possession.  He  now  saw  the 
weakness  of  trying  to  mingle  grace  with  law,  for 
as  the  means  of  salvation  the  one  annuls  the  other. 

185 


The  Exalted  Life 

To  preach  the  law  makes  grace  void;  "for  if 
righteousness  comes  through  the  law,  then  there 
was  no  need  for  Christ  to  die."  No  wonder  that  he 
says,  "O  foolish  Galatians!"  Only  one  thing  he 
wanted  to  know  of  them:  "Received  ye  the  Spirit 
by  the  works  of  the  law,  or  by  the  hearing  of  faith  ? 
Are  ye  so  foolish?  having  begun  in  the  Spirit, 
are  ye  now  made  perfect  by  the  flesh?"  (Galatians 
3:1-3.) 

The  word  "flesh"  in  this  connection,  covers  a 
wide  realm.  It  is  not  simply  the  material,  the 
animal  life  of  man,  but  all  that  this  life  relates 
man  to  as  a  controlling  influence  and  agency  in  the 
building  and  maintenance  of  character.  Who  can 
comprehend  the  sweep  of  this  environment?  All 
the  relationships  that  we  hold  to  the  material  world 
— all  the  social,  civic,  ethical,  and  religious — are 
here  focused  and  functioned.  On  the  right  or 
wrong  use  of  these  relations  depends  all  that  makes 
for  man's  weal  or  woe.  Here  we  register  what  we 
are;  for  these  forces,  in  their  sphere,  are  most 
pregnant  and  commanding.  "The  deeds  done  in 
the  body,"  in  all  rational  life,  settle  future  destiny. 
The  growth  and  progress  in  the  spiritual  life  de- 
pends on  freedom  from  the  controlling  power  of  the 
earthly  senses.  There  is  ever  a  parasitic  tendency 
in  these  senses,  and  until  they  are  made  fully  sub- 
servient to  the  divine  will,  spiritual  grovvth  will  be 
a  feeble  and  sickly  one.  These  earthly  senses 
furnish  a  poor  atmosphere  in  which  to  grow  the 
fruits  of  the  spirit.  The  flesh  always  moves  to- 
ward the  lower  ranges  of  thought  and  life.  What- 
ever may  be  the  degree  of  culture,  however  adorned 

186 


The  Influence  of  the  Carnal  on  the  Spiritual 

and  girded  by  human  philosophy,  and  what- 
ever semblance  there  may  be  of  religion  on  this 
line  of  flesh  and  blood,  these  must  be  superseded 
by  a  higher,  a  more  spiritual,  holier  relationship 
than  these  can  produce.  There  must  be  no  ad- 
hering, abiding,  controlling  conference  with  that  of 
which  Paul  affirms  there  is  no  good — the  flesh. 

Between  these  two  contending  forces,  the  carnal 
and  the  spiritual,  the  character,  usefulness,  and  des- 
tiny of  men  and  women  are  fought  out.  The  great- 
est danger  of  the  times  is  the  grading  down  of  the 
character  of  the  conflict  and  of  its  weapons  to 
such  a  compromising  level  that  spiritual  weapons 
can  be  of  little  or  no  use.  Especially  when  all  this 
is  in  the  face  of  Paul's  authentication  in  II.  Corinth- 
ians 10 :  3,  4,  where  he  says,  "For  though  we  walk  in 
th«  flesh,  we  do  not  war  after  the  flesh :  For  the 
weapons  of  our  warfare  are  not  carnal."  When 
the  human  faculties  are  dominated  by  the  flesh, 
are  fleshly,  they  can  never  conquer  sin  and  Satan. 
We  cannot  fight  the  devil  with  his  own  weapons,  for 
he  is  not  at  war  with  himself.  Jesus  says,  "If 
Satan  cast  out  Satan,  he  is  divided  against  himself ; 
how  then  shall  his  kingdom  stand?"  He  affirmed 
that  it  was  by  the  Spirit  of  God  that  he  exercised 
demons  and  not  by  confederation  with  them.  (Mat- 
thew 12:27-30.) 

The  flesh  is  Satan's  vantage  ground,  and  because 
of  its  earthliness  he  makes  his  appeal  through  its 
senses.  He  nourishes  it  in  a  thousand  ways  and 
keeps  it  alive  to  evil.  It  was  through  the  physical 
senses,  the  will  yielding  to  them,  that  Eden  was 
lost  and  the  world  ruined.    A  conference  with  evil 

187 


The  Exalted  Life 

led  to  a  consort  with  evil.  Satan  was  too  wiley 
for  even  Edenic  reason  and  innocence.  Here  the 
eye  was  the  fatal  avenue  through  which  the  ruin 
was  wrought.  Food,  pleasure,  and  wisdom,  were 
the  luring  sights  that  were  flashed  on  its  canvas 
(retina),  and  as  a  result  man  went  from  the  sweet- 
est home  earth  ever  knew  into  a  pandemonium  that 
human  reason  has  never  been  able  to  fathom  or 
poetic  genius  to  describe.  The  same  wiley  attack 
that  was  made  on  the  first  Adam  was  also  made 
on  the  second  Adam.  Here,  as  at  first,  the  appeal 
was  made  through  the  physical  senses  to  the  human 
and  not  the  divine  side  of  Christ.  The  forty  days 
and  forty  nights  of  fasting  ended  in  hunger,  and 
the  appeal  was  made  to  this  hunger.  The  devil  said 
to  him,  If  you  are  God's  son,  transform  these  stones 
into  loaves  of  bread,  and  thus  break  this  fast.  The 
second  attack  was  a  challenge  to  exploit  his  divinity 
by  a  leap  from  a  wing  of  the  temple,  trusting  him- 
self to  the  guardianship  of  angels.  The  third  and 
final  test  was  that  of  accepting  world  rulership 
at  Satan's  hands. 

In  all  these  attacks  Christ  was  more  than  con- 
queror. Adam  falling,  lost  all ;  Christ,  being  more 
than  a  match  for  the  devil,  secured  victory  for 
all  his  followers  in  the  hour  of  their  temptation  and 
in  the  grapple  with  the  last  enemy. 

Now,  for  the  purpose  of  making  all  this  prac- 
tical, and  thus  turning  it  to  account  on  the  line  of 
the  weakness,  the  peril  of  Christ's  followers,  let 
us  note  the  harmony  between  these  assailments  and 
I.  John  2:15,  16,  where  we  read:  "Love  not  the 
world,  neither  the  things  that  are  in  the  world.     If 

188 


The  Influence  of  the  Carnal  on  the  Spiritual 

any  man  love  the  world,  the  love  of  the  Father  is 
not  in  him.  For  all  that  is  in  the  world,  the  lust 
of  the  flesh,  and  the  lust  of  the  eyes,  and  the  pride 
of  life,  is  not  of  the  Father,  but  is  of  the  world." 

Ti?e  real  aim  and  end  of  life  is  communion  with 
God,  as  Father,  and  with  Jesus  Christ  as  our  Savior. 
This  is  well  expressed  by  St.  Augustine,  "O  God 
thou  hast  made  us  for  thyself,  and  our  hearts  are 
restless  until  they  rest  in  thee."  Sin  breaks  this 
communion  and  separates  from  God,  the  fountain 
of  living  waters,  and  man  substitutes  instead  the 
broken   cistern  that  can  hold  no   water. 

Sin  is  an  awful  reality.  There  is  a  kind  of 
scholastic  tendency  these  days  that  may  question 
this;  but  all  human  history  affirms  it.  Sin  is 
nut  n  substance,  and  does  not  add  to  or  subtract 
from  the  material  universe ;  is  it  not  an  attribute  or 
essential  element  of  man,  yet  it  is  a  positive  reality, 
and  not  merely,  as  some  hold,  a  negation.  In  char- 
acter sin  is  selfish,  it  is  lawless,  it  is  destructive,  it 
is  enslaving.  The  natural  and  inevitable  conse- 
quences of  sin  are  guilt,  depravity,  bondage,  and 
if  persisted  in,  death. 

Definite  sin  and  its  effects  as  fully  and  plainly 
as  we  can,  it  is  still  a  great  mystery.  Paul  says  sin 
works  "in  our  members,"  it  "lusts,"  "it  is  decep- 
tive," it  is  "active,"  it  "wars,"  it  "kills";  but  who 
can  tell  how?  It  is  a  germ  from  the  original  stock 
of  the  race,  and  whenever  it  has  a  chance  it  will 
grow  and  bring  forth  its  awful  wages.  It  is  the 
leaven  in  the  lump  of  humanity,  and,  if  permitted, 
will  work  its  corruption  through  every  part.  Sin 
is  awful  in  its  destruction.     It  can  put  the  highest 

189 


The  Exalted  Life 

sainthood  into  the  deepest  degradation.  It  can  put 
the  purest  womanhood  in  the  midst  of  the  accusing, 
sensuous  rabble,  it  can  put  a  l<:ing  on  a  theocratic 
throne  into  deepest  shame,  disgrace,  and  humilia- 
tion. 

Who  can  read  the  tragic  story  of  Samson  with- 
out a  sense  of  fear  and  trembling?  He  was  conse- 
crated to  purity,  sobriety,  and  as  the  preacher  and 
leader  of  Israel,  by  a  Nazarite  vow.  As  a  sign 
of  his  distinction  his  locks  were  to  remain  unshorn. 
Against  all  this  note  the  power  of  carnality 
in  his  case.  There  was  a  woman  by  the  name  of 
Delilah — her  very  name  signifying  weakness — that 
proved  his  overthrow.  She  was  beautiful,  fasci- 
nating, wiley,  wicked.  Samson  was  wise,  conse- 
crated, a  Nazarite  of  great  faith,  and  possessed  of 
collossal  strength,  and  yet  went  down  before  this 
vixen  of  the  Philistines.  He  went  out  to  slay  the 
hosts  of  evil,  but  his  power  was  gone.  What,  in 
all  history,  is  more  pathetic  than  the  closing  days 
of  Samson?  He  forsook  his  vows,  in  a  moment  of 
weakness  he  forgot  his  God,  was'  captured  by  the 
enemy  and  subjected  to  the  most  unthinkable 
taunts  and  tortures.  His  eyes  were  put  out ; 
then  he  was  harnessed  like  a  mule  and  hitched  to 
a  mill  in  his  prisonhouse,  and  made  to  grind  day 
after  day.  What  a  sad  and  sorrowful  picture  is 
here  painted !  But  it  is  only  one  of  many,  and 
should  be  a  warning  to  all  that  think  they  stand  to 
take  heed  lest  they,  too,  like  Samson,  come  to 
grind  in  the  mills  of  the  gods. 

This  was  a  time  and  place  for  retrospection, 
reflection,  and  introspection.     The  work  of  restor- 

190 


The  Influence  of  the  Carnal  on  the  Spiritual 

ation  began  at  once.  Loss  of  eyes,  fetters  of 
brass,  prison  walls,  and  bestial  labor  did  not  pre- 
vent his  hair  from  growing  again.  How  wonderful 
the  power  of  recovering  grace  for  a  fallen  world, 
and  for  individuals,  who,  like  Samson,  have  fallen 
into  sin !  The  day  of  recovery  is  always  near  at 
hand.  Only  a  little  time  and  the  sign  of  the  Nazar- 
ite  character  made  its  appearance.  "The  hair  of 
his  head  began  to  grow  again."  The  day  of  fes- 
tivity, the  Philistine  holiday  is  at  hand,  when  Sam- 
son must  make  sport  for  the  autocrats  of  the  city, 
and  for  the  thousands  of  men  and  women  that 
were  gathered  together  on  this  occasion.  This  was 
the  day  of  restoration  and  victory  for  Samson. 
The  awful  carnival  is  at  an  end.  All  hearts  were 
merry,  but  in  a  moment  the  thunderbolt  of  power 
smote  the  gay  and  giddy  throng  and  the  pall  of 
death's  night  hung  over  the  scene.  That  v/onderful 
prayer  went  up  to  God  for  strength.  ''Only  this 
once,"  he  said,  and  the  ''slain  at  this  his  death  were 
more  than  he  slew  in  his  life." 

Here  is  a  lesson  for  all  days ;  but  for  none  more 
than  for  us  in  these  days  of  rush,  turmoil,  strife, 
and  sensual  vice.  We  are  having  our  "juvenile 
delinquencies,"  "juvenile  judges,"  and  "juvenile 
courts,"  all  in  the  hope  of  meeting  increasing  emer- 
gencies, and  establishing  a  better  condition  of  things. 
But  is  there  not  a  serious  need  of  considering  adult 
and  parental  delinquencies?  Chief  Justice  Russell 
of  the  New  York  court  of  special  sessions  says, 
"Three  quarters  of  all  the  cases  that  crowd  the 
calendars  of  the  children's  courts  In  New  York 
are   the   result   of   improper   guardianship."     This 

191 


The  Exalted  Life 

is  true  in  many  of  the  great  cities  of  our  country. 
Here  are  the  garish  lights,  the  recruiting  sergeants, 
the  luring  and  tempting  outposts  spreading  the  drag- 
nets of  evil  and  gathering  into  dens  of  vice  thou- 
sands from  the  homes  of  thoughtless  and  unsus- 
pecting parents.  These  pitfalls  and  snares  are 
appalling.  The  best  boy  and  the  best  girl  in  the 
world  may  be  ruined  by  such  bad  companionship 
as  here  found.  Courts  of  justice,  penitentiaries, 
and  ruined  homes  can  speak  on  this  line.  Every 
jail,  every  reform  school,  and  every  other  place  of 
correction  sounds  the  v^arning  and  gives  the  alarm. 
Are  we  hearing  and  heeding?  The  more  outward 
things — ''the  lust  of  the  flesh,  the  lust  of  the  eyes, 
and  the  pride  of  life" — are  kept  living,  active,  and 
controlling,  the  more  the  things  within,  the  life 
and  graces  of  the  Spirit,  weaken  and  decay.  Gan- 
grene within  the  physical  body  means  certain  death ; 
but  not  more  certain, — and  not  nearly  so  sad  and 
momentous  the  results — than  the  death  of  things 
that  die  within. 

Oh,  the  peril  to  the  Christian  that  allows  the 
outward  senses  to  control  and  thereby  destroy 
the  inner  life !  Here  there  is  no  sure  anchorage. 
The  spirit  of  the  world  is  ever  shifting,  altering, 
eluding.  In  one  age  it  is  barbarous,  in  another 
idolatrous,  in  another  it  is  love  of  conflict,  in 
another,  love  of  philosophy,  and  still  in  another 
wealth,  love  of  money,  as  in  our  day.  The  world 
has  never  had  such  a  universal,  controlling  power 
as  it  has  to-day.  The  future  Vv^elfare  is  sacrificed 
for  the  present  and  lower  pleasures.  The  future 
birthright  is   exchanged   for  the  mess   of  pottage. 

192 


The  Influence  of  the  Carnal  on  the  Spiritual 

The  impulses  from  without  play  against  the  forces 
from  within,  resulting  in  degraded  morals,  wrecked 
health,  and  a  defeated  and  ruined  life.  These  are 
the  days  of  novels,  romances,  and  plays,  many  of 
them  veiled  in  the  most  graceful  and  seductive 
imagery.  Here  the  mind  is  poisoned  and  the  imag- 
ination inflamed  with  a  fire  that  may  never  be 
quenched.  Here  the  intoxication  of  the  senses  may 
be  worse  and  more  fatal  than  that  of  wine. 

The  world  must  never  have  first  place  with  the 
Christian  if  he  would  live  the  triumphant  life.  His 
affections  must  be  set  elsewhere,  *'on  things  above, 
and  not  on  things  on  the  earth."  "Whosoever  is 
born  of  God,  overcometh  the  world."  Paul  said, 
"be  not  conformed  to  this  world."  Jesus  said,  "If 
ye  were  of  the  world,  the  world  would  love  its 
own."  The  apostle  said  to  the  Gentiles,  "In  time 
past  ye  walked  according  to  the  course  of  this 
world,  the  spirit  which  now  worketh  in  the  children 
of  disobedience." 

Here  the  word  "world"  has  a  broad  and  varied 
meaning.  It  stands  for  the  spirit,  the  tone,  the 
temper,  the  voice  of  the  populace.  Conformity 
to  this  world  can  never  obtain  with  the  sons  of 
God.  Being  born  from  above  they  must  live  in  the 
sphere  of  the  world  of  their  nativity.  Their  true 
citizenship  is  in  heaven;  for  though  living  in  this 
world,  they  are  not  of  it.  Here  it  is  the  spirit 
of  the  life  and  not  the  environment  that  decides 
the  character  of  the  life.  It  is  not  the  "flesh"  nor 
the  "eye,"  nor  the  "life,"  but  the  "lust"  and  "pride" 
of  these  that  determines  the  origin  and  relationship 

193 


The  Exalted  Life 

— "not  of  the  Father,  but  of  the  world."  (I.  John 
2:15-17.) 

On  the  Hne  of  the  questionable,  there  must  be  no 
consorting  or  compromising.  Christ's  bride  must 
keep  herself  pure  or  she  cannot  enter  into  the  bride- 
chamber  with  the  bridegroom.  There  must  be  no 
forgetting  of  the  bridal  ornaments  or  the  bridal 
attire.  She  must  be  "clothed  with  the  garments  of 
salvation,  and  be  covered  with  the  robe  of  right- 
eousness." She  must  be  "prepared  as  a  bride 
adorned  for  her  husband."  In  order  to  this,  there 
must  be  no  flirting,  coquetting,  or  consorting  with 
evil.  To  do  this  is  spiritual  adultery.  To  dally  with 
the  pleasures  of  sin,  and  to  yield  to  the  desires 
that  are  fleshly,  is  to  bring  on  a  condition,  spiritual- 
ly, akin  to  that  of  jealousy  between  husband  and 
wife,  only,  many  fold  worse. 

True  marriage  admits  of  only  two  parties  to  the 
sacred  union.  No  third  party  can  be  admitted  if 
purity  of  life  is  to  be  maintained.  To  that  third 
party  it  is  both  seclusive  and  inclusive.  Union  with 
Christ  excludes  the  possibility  of  living  fraternally 
with  the  present  world-system — of  which  Satan  is 
the  god,  called  "the  god  of  this  world,"  which  is 
always  ethically  bad — and  at  the  same  time  main- 
tain fellowship  with  him.  This  is  what  James 
characterizes  as  adultery.  He  says,  "Ye  adulterers 
and  adulteresses,  know  ye  not  that  the  friendship 
of  the  world  is  enmity  with  God?  Whosoever, 
therefore,  will  be  a  friend  of  the  world  is  the  ene- 
my of  God."  Then  he  gives  us  this  further  state- 
ment, "The  spirit  that  dwelleth  in  us  lusteth  to 
envy."     (James  4:4,  5.) 

194 


The  Influence  of   the   Carnal   on  the  Spiritual 

This  last  quotation  is  rendered  somewhat  vari- 
ous by  different  exegetes,  as  follows :  "The  Spirit 
that  dwelleth  in  us  jealously  desireth  us."  Again, 
"That  Spirit  which  he  made  to  dwell  in  us  yearneth 
for  us  even  unto  jealous  envy."  Still  again,  "Doth 
the  Spirit  which  he  made  to  dwell  in  us  long  unto 
envy?".    (R.  V.) 

It  would  seem  from  the  renderings,  as  well  as 
from  other  Scriptures,  that  Christ — or  God  for  his 
son — "jealously  desireth  his  Church  altogether  for 
himself."  In  harmony  with  this  Paul  says,  "For 
I  am  jealous  over  you  with  godly  jealousy;  for  I 
have  espoused  you  unto  one  husband,  that  I  may 
present  you  as  a  chaste  virgin  to  Christ."  (II.  Cor- 
inthians 11:2.)  Here  divine  jealousy  revealed  it- 
self in  Paul,  for  having  betrothed  the  Church  at 
Corinth  to  one  husband,  and  that  husband  being 
Christ,  he  wanted  to  present  it  to  him  a  pure 
bride,  without  spot  or  blemish;  but  he  had  fears 
that  it  might  turn  out  with  them  just  as  it  did  with 
Eve,  that  through  the  subtlety  of  the  enemy  they 
might  have  their  minds  corrupted,  and  thereby  lose 
the  love,  loyalty,  and  purity  due  from  them  to 
Christ. 

God  said  to  his  ancient  Israel  that  he  was  "mar- 
ried unto  them,"  that  he  was  "an  husband  unto 
them" ;  but  in  spite  of  this,  or  in  defiance  of  it, 
they  forsook  him.  Hear  the  cry,  like  that  of  a 
broken-hearted  husband,  "Turn,  O  backsliding 
children" ;  "Return,  ye  backsliding  children,  and 
I  will  heal  your  backslidings."  "Why  gaddest 
thou  about  so  much  to  change  thy  ways?"  (Jere- 
miah 2:36;  3:14,  22.) 

19  5  .       .       — 


The  Exalted  Life 

Why  should  a  soul  ever  grow  restless  when  in 
fellowship  with  Christ?  Why  displeased  with  such 
a  choice?  Why  this  worldly  infatuation?  Why 
this  eagerness  to  consort  with  evil?  Can  the  bride 
of  Christ,  "like  a  courtesan  looking  out  for  para- 
mours," spend  her  time  in  gadding  about  to  find 
satisfaction  in  a  life  of  separation  from  God,  and 
in  the  love  and  pleasures  of  a  fallen  world?  May 
we  not  well  lament  the  number  of  spiritual  "gad- 
abouts" that  characterize  our  day  and  times?  A 
class  of  restless,  feverish,  fashion-mongers,  always 
hunting  for  something  new  on  which  to  feed  their 
senses.  All  those  that  make  God  their  portion  and 
that  walk  in  fellowship  with  Jesus,  need  not  gad 
about  to  find  the  wellsprings  of  joy,  for  they 
carry  the  "fountain  of  living  waters"  within  them, 
"a  well  of  water  springing  up  into  everlasting  life." 
So  the  woman  at  the  well  found  it,  going  away 
with  a  well  of  water  instead  of  only  a  pitcher. 

Christ  is  the  most  intense  lover  that  the  world 
or  the  Church  has  ever  known.  He  can  brook  the 
grossest  insults,  exercise  the  greatest  patience,  pity 
in  the  most  royal  way,  stoop  to  the  lowest  moral 
brute,  and  "forgive  to  the  uttermost."  Out  of 
love  for  sinners  he  gave  his  life.  "God  commend- 
eth  his  love  toward  us,  in  that,  while  we  were  yet 
sinners,  Christ  died  for  us."  Paul  says  that  it  was 
out  of  love  that  he  gave  himself  for  the  Church. 
(Ephesians  5:25-27.)  He  gave  himself  to  re- 
deem the  Church,  that  he  might  sanctify  and 
cleanse  it,  and  all  "that  he  might  present  it  unto 
himself  a  glorious  church,  without  a  spot  or  wrinkle 
or  any  such  thing." 

196 


The  Influence  of  the  Carnal  on  the  Spiritual 

What  a  glorious  thing  when  Christ  comes  to 
make  the  presentation  of  this  Church  to  himself  as 
his  bride,  if  she  has  "made  herself  ready"  by  "ar- 
raying herself  in  fine  linen,  clean  and  white."  (Rev- 
elation 19:7,  8.) 

Here  we  have  manifested  the  righteousness  of 
God  in  contrast  with  self-righteousness  which  is  of 
the  law.  This  was  Paul's  great  battle  as  a  legalist. 
Touching  the  "righteousness  which  is  in  the  law" 
he  claimed  that  he  was  "blameless."  But  all  this 
righteousness  went  to  the  garbage  heap  that  he 
might  be  found  in  Christ,  "not  having  his  own 
righteousness,  which  is  of  the  law,"  but  instead, 
"that  which  is  through  the  faith  of  Christ,  the 
righteousness  which  is  of  God  by  faith."  (Phil- 
ippians  3:8,  9.)  To  throw  all  this  away,  and  die 
to  all  that  seemed  such  a  noble  past,  was  no  easy 
thing  to  do.  Paul  characterizes  this  as  being  noth- 
ing less  than  death  by  crucifixion.  He  says,  "I  am 
crucified  with  Christ." 

The  only  way  to  escape  sin's  consequences  is  to 
change  races,  dying  to  one,  the  carnal,  and  living 
the  other,  the  spiritual.  To  attempt  to  live  in 
the  sphere  of  both,  the  carnal  and  the  spiritual 
alternating  as  varying  occasions  may  serve  to 
quicken  the  one  or  the  other,  is  to  live  the  life  of 
the  "wretched  man."  To  live  the  crucified  life  is 
to  give  Christ  the  controlling  power,  to  live  after 
the  higher  law,  "the  spirit  of  the  life  in  Christ 
Jesus."  In  this  life  the  Holy  Spirit  can  and  must 
dwell,  must  abide  continually — as  in  John  7 :  38, 
39 — then  the  life  will  be  abundant  and  abounding 
as  the  flowing  of  "rivers  of  living  waters." 

197 


The  Exalted  Life 

This  chapter  covers  a  wider  and  more  varied 
field  of  thought  than  was  contemplated  at  its  be- 
ginning, which  must  be  accounted  for  on  the 
ground  of  the  importance  and  scope  of  the  theme 
as  it  appeared  to  the  writer  as  he  advanced  in  the 
study  of  it. 


198 


CHAPTER  XV. 
Christ  as  the  Unit  of  Life  in  the  Believer. 

As  Adam  was  the  whole  of  humanity  in  its  ruin, 
so  Christ  is  the  whole  of  humanity  in  its  provi- 
sional redemption.  Christ,  for  righteousness,  is  the 
very  antithesis  of  Adam  who  stands  for  sin  and 
unrighteousness.  If  the  first  Adam  begat  a  son 
in  his  own  likeness,  after  his  image,  is  it  at  all 
strange  that  those  that  are  begotten  of  God,  born 
of  him,  should  be  partakers  of  his  nature  and  bear 
his  moral  image?  Peter  says  that  it  was  for  this 
very  purpose  that  we  have  "given  unto  us  exceed- 
ing great  and  precious  promises;  that  by  these  ye 
miight  be  partakers  of  the  divine  nature,  hav- 
ing escaped  the  corruption  that  is  in  the  world 
through  lust."  (II.  Peter  1:4.)  Paul,  in  Hebrews 
12:10,  gives  as  the  reason  for  divine  chastening, 
"that  we  might  be  partakers  of  his  holiness."  In 
Hebrews  3:  14,  the  believer  is  "made  a  partaker  of 
Christ,"  and  in  chapter  six,  verse  four,  he  is  "made 
a  partaker  of  the  Holy  Ghost." 

These  Scriptures  not  only  settle  the  fact  of  the 
divine  begetting,  but  also  of  the  nature  of  that 
begetting;  born  of  God  and  thus  made  a  partaker 
of  his  nature.  Now  as  these  two  representative 
heads  are  in  direct  contrast,  so  the  creations  that 
they  represent  must  be  in  contrast.  Through  the 
one  death  passed  upon  all;  through  the  other  life 
is   offered   to  all.        "Flesh"   and   "spirt"   are   the 

199 


The  Exalted  Life 

contrasting  words,  revealing  the  human  and  the 
divine,  the  earthly  and  heavenly,  the  character  of 
each  resulting  in  a  service  in  harmony  with  existing 
identity.  If  the  identity  is  with  Chrst  then  the 
strife  must  be  against  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the 
devil;  but  if  with  the  original  head  of  the  race, 
then  enmity  against  God  and  all  goodness  will  char- 
acterize the  struggle.  If  the  unit  in  the  life  is  in 
sin,  then  the  multiple  will  be  in  harmony  with  this 
unit ;  but  if  Christ  is  the  unit  then  the  multiple  will 
be  in  harmony  with  him.  He  will  multiply  his  life 
in  the  believer  and  in  the  world  like  the  grain  of 
wheat  that  falls  into  the  ground  and  dies,  death  re- 
sulting in  a  greater  harvest.  It  is  as  a  unit  that 
Christ  dies,  a  "single  grain" ;  but  as  a  multiple 
he  lives,  "bringing  forth  much  fruit."  (St.  John 
12:24.) 

Now  it  is  Christ  as  the  perfect  unit  of  life  in 
the  believer  that  results  in  his  marvelous  achieve- 
ments under  grace,  and  that  determines  the  meas- 
ure of  his  moral  and  spiritual  perfection — to  put 
it  in  the  language  of  the  orthodox  creeds — his  Chris- 
tian perfection. 

The  whole  original  creation,  including  man  as 
the  crowning  glory  of  that  creation,  having  been 
marred  like  the  clay  in  the  potter's  hand,  had  to 
be  made  over,  refashioned,  renewed,  and  restored, 
in  order  to  become  a  vessel  unto  honor.  This  rep- 
resentatively and  provisionally  was  done  by  and  in 
Christ.  For  man's  sake,  he  became  not  only  the 
marred  vessel,  but  also  the  divine  potter.  This  the 
marvel  and  astonishment  of  all  beholders ;  for  it 
is  written  of  him  that  "his  visage  was  so  marred 

200 


Christ  as  the  Unit  of  Life  in  the  Believer 

more  than  any  man,  and  his  form  more  than  the 
sons  of  men."      (Isaiah  52:  14.) 

In  order  to  reveal  Christ  as  a  unit  in  man's  re- 
demption, let  us  see  what  a  picture  is  given  of  him 
and  his  sufferings  in  the  fifty-third  chapter  of 
Isaiah!  Let  us  look  on  it  for  a  moment:  He  had 
no  beauty  to  make  him  desirable;  he  was  despised, 
rejected,  sorrowful,  familiar  with  grief,  an  object 
of  shame,  and  without  esteem,  loaded  with  sorrow, 
and  in  all  this  adjudged  as  suffering  divine  ven- 
geance ;  but  it  was  for  others  that  he  was  wounded, 
bruised,  chastened.  The  world's  iniquity  was  all 
laid  on  him ;  he  was  oppressed  and  afflicted ;  yet 
uttered  no  complaint,  but  went  as  a  lamb  to  the 
slaughter  and  as  a  sheep  to  be  shorn  of  its  robe 
of  purity.  He  went  under  the  tyranny  of  law  as 
a  criminal,  and  suffered  the  loss  of  his  life  by  the 
most  cruel  execution.  He  was  classed  with  the 
wicked,  with  the  felons,  and  was  given  a  convict's 
grave.  His  very  soul  was  made  a  sin-offering.  He 
carried  the  world's  guilt  to  the  cross,  was  classed 
with  transgressors,  and  all  this  that  he  might  win 
the  goal  of  eternal  life  for  a  guilty  and  perishing 
world. 

In  this  picture  we  have  the  event  of  all  history, 
the  mysterious  problem  of  all  human  philosophy, 
and  also  a  true  test  of  a  genuine  faith.  Judged  out- 
wardly and  circumstantially — ^by  the  treatment  re- 
ceived at  the  hands  of  the  established  authorities  of 
his  day — there  was  never  such  odium,  contumely, 
shame,  and  charges  of  wicked  alliances,  piled  upon 
any  man  as  were  set  to  the  discredit  of  Jesus. 

201 


The  Exalted  Life 

Can  we  think  of  it  being  otherwise  when  we  con- 
sider the  substitutionary  character  of  his  work? 
Whose  sin?  whose  marriage?  whose  grief?  whose 
sorrows?  whose  transgressions?  whose  iniquities? 
whose  chastenings?  whose  wanderings?  whose 
sickness?  Whose  guilt,  and  whose  judgment  did 
he  bear  ?  It  was  ours ;  the  world's ;  for  on  him  was 
laid  "the  iniquity  of  us  all."  Oh,  for  a  thousand 
tongues  to  tell  it! 

Think  of  not  only  the  original  sin,  with  all  that 
it  means,  but  of  all  the  collected  sin  and  the  guilt 
of  the  ages  being  laid  on  the  innocent  One  and 
borne  by  him!  Then  think  of  this  all  condensing 
in  one  life  in  the  "man  of  sorrows,"  and  he  bearing 
its  awful  weight  alone.  Is  it  any  wonder  that 
he  was  in  an  agony  and  sorrowful  even  unto  death, 
and  that  his  sweat  became  great  drops  of  blood? 
But  for  the  ministry  of  an  angel  he  might  never 
have  reached  the  cross,  but  would  have  died  in 
the  garden.  It  may  be  that  this  was  the  cup — 
death  in  the  garden  and  not  on  the  cross — ^against 
which  he  prayed,  and  from  which  his  Father  grant- 
ed relief  by  sending  an  angel  to  strengthen  him.  He 
wanted  to  reach  the  cross,  for  it  was  by  that  lifting 
up  that  he  would  draw  all  men  unto  him.  It  was 
his  humiliation,  but  it  is  the  Christian's  only  glory. 
Paul  wanted  to  be  denied  all  other  causes  of  glory- 
ing save  in  the  cross  by  which  he  underwent  the 
double  crucifixion,  he  unto  the  world  and  the  world 
unto  him. 

In  this  scheme  of  redemption  this  suffering  of  the 
"man  of  sorrows"  has  a  special  place  and  his  death 
a   divine   meaning.      Christ's    sufferings    were   not 

202 


Christ  as  the  Unit  of  Life  in  the  Believer 

only  vicarious  but  redemptive;  for  the  "chastise- 
ment of  our  peace  was  upon  him ;  and  with  his 
stripes  we  are  healed."  It  was  in  our  stead  that  he 
took  the  consequences  of  sin,  that  we  might  there- 
by be  freed  from  them. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  effect  of  Christ's 
death  on  the  Jewish  nation  as  seen  in  prophecy 
and  revealed  in  types  and  shadows,  to  the  Chris- 
tian it  becomes  a  great  fact  as  an  experience  in  his 
inner  life  and  consciousness.  Sin  could  never  have 
been  seen  in  its  true  light,  its  heinousness,  nor  could 
the  mystery  of  the  greatness  of  God's  love  be 
manifested  to  the  believer,  if  it  were  not  for  its 
penalty  being  met  voluntarily  by  an  innocent  party ; 
one  in  no  way  implicated  in  the  offense.  How  this 
compassion  of  God's  only  Son  ought  to  melt  the 
heart  of  stone,  and  change  it  to  a  heart  of  flesh, 
to  remember  that  he  suffered  this  shame  and 
ignominy  for  us,  and  all  by  choice  and  out  of  the 
great  love  wherewith  he  loved  us ! 

Here  the  critical  and  captious  voice  of  justice 
must  be  silent.  It  is  by  love  and  by  choice  that 
Jesus  steps  into  the  place  of  another  and  bears 
sin's  consequences.  It  was  in  no  sense  arbitrary. 
It  was  by  one  that  sin  reigned ;  it  is  by  one  that 
grace  now  reigns.  It  was  by  one  that  judgment 
came ;  it  is  by  one  that  justification  now  clears  from 
many  offenses.  It  was  by  one  that  death  reigned ; 
it  is  by  one  that  life  now  reigns.  It  was  by  one 
that  many  were  made  sinners;  it  is  by  one's  obedi- 
ence that  many  shall  be  made  righteous ;  and  all 
this  by  choice,  and  not  by  compulsion.  The  law's 
entrance  multiplied  the  offense  many  fold ;  but  grace 

203 


The  Exalted  Li£e 

far  transcends  the  blight  and  curse  of  the  law  by 
reigning  "through  the  righteousness  of  one  unto 
eternal  life." 

Here  one  is  set  over  against  one,  and  yet  on 
behalf  of  that  one.  The  tyranny  of  law,  of  prison, 
and  of  judgment,  was  accepted  by  the  innocent  One 
that  the  guilty  might  go  free. 

Now,  instead  of  this  being  arbitrary  and  unjust, 
as  stated,  it  is  classed  as  a  service  rendered  by  a 
servant  for  the  good  of  others.  "By  his  knowledge 
shall  my  righteous  servant  justify  many;  for  he 
shall  bear  their  iniquities."  (Isaiah  53:11.) 
This  service  was  rendered  by  the  yielding  up  of 
life.  His  life  was  taken,  he  was  cut  off  out  of 
the  land  of  the  living;  and  yet  he  said,  "I  lay  down 
my  life." 

As  a  servant  he  took  our  infirmities,  and  so  bore 
our  sicknesses.  Jesus  not  only  fulfilled  the  cere- 
monial law,  but  he  met  the  claims  of  the  highest 
law  known  to  men,  the  law  above  all  human  laws, 
the  law  that  God  only  could  enact,  the  moral  law, 
and  thereby  made  it  possible  for  guilty  man  to  come 
back  to,  and  have  fellowship  with  God.  He  not 
only  cleared  man's  guilt  under  the  law,  but  he  also 
made  it  possible  for  man  to  live  in  harmony  with 
that  law.  Here  was  Paul's  struggle  under  the  law. 
Being  weak  through  the  flesh  he  could  not  keep  it. 
Christ  was  not  yet  the  unit  of  his  life.  He  was  in 
a  dual  state  or  attitude  toward  the  things  of  the 
Spirit.  James  describes  this  state  as  one  of  vascil- 
lation,  instability.  (James  1:8.)  Solomon  tells 
us  of  the  opposite  to  this.  "Trust  in  the  Lord  with 
all  thine  heart;  and  lean  not  unto  thine  own  un- 

204 


Christ  as  the  Unit  of  Life  in  the  Believer 

derstanding."  (Proverbs  3:5.)  It  was  for  this 
unit  of  life  that  Paul  prayed. 

It  is  only  the  whole  Christ  that  can  cover  the 
wreckage  and  the  utter  ruin  of  man's  nature,  and 
make  him  a  whole  man.  In  I.  Thessalonians  5 :  23, 
24,  Paul  puts  the  whole  man  under  the  power  of 
recovering  grace.  He  says :  *'The  very  God  of 
peace  sanctify  you  wholly;  and  I  pray  God  your 
whole  spirit  and  soul  and  body  be  preserved  blame- 
less unto  the  coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
Faithful  is  he  that  calleth  you,  who  also  will  do  it." 
In  order  to  man's  complete  recovery  from  this 
ruin  which  sin  has  wrought  in  him,  the  whole 
ground  of  that  ruin  must  be  covered  by  Sinai  and 
Calvary.  Law  must  precede  and  prepare  the  way 
for  grace.  Man  must  first  see  and  feel  his  ruined 
condition  before  he  can  become  a  subject  of  recov- 
ering grace.  It  is  the  sick  that  need  the  physician ; 
it  is  only  the  sinner  that  can  be  called  to  repentance. 
It  is  by  the  law  that  sin  is  made  known.  (Romans 
3:20.)  Outward  sin  is  made  known  by  the  letter 
of  the  law,  inward  sin  by  the  spirit  of  the  law,  or 
the  spiritual  nature  of  the  law.  It  is  in  this  sense 
that  Paul  affirms  **that  the  law  is  spiritual,"  and 
that  the  service  rendered,  to  be  spiritual,  must  be  in 
the  "newness  of  the  spirit  and  not  in  the  oldness 
of  the  letter." 

Many  honest  Christians  do  not  see  the  spiritual 
nature  or  character  of  sin  until  the  spiritual  phase 
of  the  law  reveals  it.  With  them  sin  is  seen  only 
in  the  act.  The  motions  and  desires  in  the  heart 
toward  sin,  which  never  come  into  act,  are  not  held 
to  be  sin.    It  is  only  when  these  desires  are  viewed 

205 


The  Exalted  Life 

in  the  light  of  the  spiritual  nature  of  the  law  that 
these  come  to  be  known  as  sin.  It  is  here 
that  Paul  said,  "I  had  not  known  sin,  but  by  the 
law."  When  he  qualifies  the  sin  in  this  case  he 
classifies  it  as  desire,  saying,  "I  had  not  known 
lust,  except  the  law  had  said.  Thou  shalt  not 
covet."  He  here  perceived  the  exceeding  spiritual- 
ity of  God's  law,  and  although  it  extorted  the  cry 
of  wretchedness,  yet  he  said,  "I  delight  in  the  law 
of  God  after  the  inward  man."  He  goes  farther 
and  says,  ''With  the  mind  I  myself  serve  the  law 
of  God."  It  is  not  enough  to  approve  of  the  law, 
to  consent  to  the  law  and  to  delight  in  the  law; 
but  the  law  must  become  all-commanding  in  the 
life  and  controlling  in  the  service.  The  whole  vent 
and  drift  of  the  life  must  go  in  the  way  that  this 
phase  of  the  law  directs.  Paul  says,  'T  myself" 
thus  serve  the  law.  Any  deviation  from  this  comes 
from  another  source  than  this  personal  ego.  "It  is 
not  I" ;  it  comes  from  the  law  which  I  now  see 
to  be  reigning  in  my  members,  and  it  is  against 
this  that  I  war  and  from  which  I  seek  deliverance. 
From  this  I  take  it  that  Paul  did  not  seek  to 
excuse  himself  from  the  guilt  of  sin;  for  he  con- 
fesses to  its  existence  and  puts  up  a  strong  pro- 
test against  it.  He  bewails  its  existence  and  groans 
for  relief.  He  cries  for  help  outside  of  himself, 
and  apart  from  law.  The  law  had  wrought  his  ruin, 
putting  him  where  Christ  was  put  as  his  substitute 
under  the  law;  but  in  this  moment  of  despair  the 
light  of  the  twofold  character  of  Christ's  work 
flashed  upon  him,  and  he  for  the  first  time  saw  that 
he  died  to  the  law's  effects  when  Christ  died  under 

206 


Christ  as  the  Unit  of  Life  in  the  Believei* 

the  law,  that  he  might  now  take  his  place  with 
the  risen  Christ  in  absolute  freedom  from  sin  and 
death.  It  is  no  longer,  ''O  wretched  man  that  I 
am,"  but  ''I  thank  God  through  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord."  The  old  body  of  death,  the  personification 
of  sin  under  the  law,  is  now  no  longer  to  reign. 
Duality  has  ended  in  a  blessed  and  triumphant  unity 
with  Christ.  Sin  no  longer  has  its  dwelling  within, 
and  the  law  cannot  now  work  its  ruin ;  for  Christ 
Jesus  has  become  the  shield,  the  fortification,  the 
city  of  refuge,  that  perfectly  shelters  and  homes 
the  once  sin-buffetted  man.  There  is  now  no  con- 
sorting with  the  flesh;  the  walk  being  after  the 
Spirit.  Grace  and  not  law,  the  new  and  not  the 
old  nature,  the  Holy  Spirit  and  not  the  flesh,  now 
rule  and  control  the  life.     (Romans  8:1,  2.) 

It  is  justification  and  not  condemnation,  sanc- 
tification  and  not  corruption — as  under  the  law — 
that  constitute  the  state  and  character  of  the  life 
now  lived  as  a  gracious  privilege.  The  weakness 
of  flesh  under  the  law  is  supplanted  by  the  all-con- 
quering power  of  grace  in  Christ  Jesus,  so  that  the 
life  is  no  longer  in  the  "likeness  of  sinful  flesh," 
but  in  the  "newness  of  Spirit." 

Here  the  man  of  Sinai — an  utter  failure — loses 
himself  in  the  man  of  Calvary.  He  apprehends 
Christ  for  all  that  God  has  made  him  to  be  to  the 
believer — "wisdom,  righteousness,  sanctification,  and 
redemption."  This  is  made  still  stronger  in  the 
words,  "For  he  hath  made  him  to  be  sin  for  us, 
who  knew  no  sin;  that  we  might  be  made  the  right- 
eousness of  God  in  him."  (II.  Corinthians  5:21.) 
Can  words  be  stronger  than  these,  and  is  there  any 

207 


The  Exalted  Life 

ground  of  sin  or  salvation  that  they  do  not  cover? 
Christ  was  made  what  he  was  that  we  might  be- 
come the  righteousness  of  God  in  him.  Mark! 
"Become  the  righteousness  of  God." 

Is  it  not  wonderful  that  One  who  never  knew 
sin  should  be  made  to  be  sin,  so  that  all  that 
come  to  abide  in  him  might  become  thereby  the 
righteousness  of  God?  In  the  light  of  these  Scrip- 
tures, what  does  Christ  stand  for?  Is  he  not 
the  unit  of  salvation  to  the  believer,  and  is  not  this 
salvation  to  be  as  complete  in  its  realization  by  the 
believer,  as  it  is  in  its  provisional  scope? 
If     not,     why     the     provision?  Surely     God 

has  not  performed  a  work  of  superero- 
gation in  redeeming  man,  by  subjecting  his  only  Son 
to  needless  service,  suffering,  and  sacrifice!  If  he 
has  not,  then  that  salvation  is  to  be  made  available 
in  its  completeness  by  the  one  accepting  it,  or  else 
God  is  dishonored  and  Christ  has  suffered  in  vain, 
"died  in  vain." 

Paul  said  to  the  Colossians  that  they  were  com- 
plete in  Christ.  (Colossians  2:10.)  Just  as  the 
Godhead  dwelt  in  Christ  in  all  its  fullness,  so  Christ 
brings  the  fullness  of  the  Godhead  into  all  that  have 
received  the  circumcision  of  the  Spirit,  thereby  put- 
ting away  the  sins  of  the  flesh  and  making  the  union 
with  himself  complete.  If  complete  in  him  what 
can  be  added?  If  the  ''old  man"  was  crucified  with 
Christ — the  "body  of  sin"  and  the  body  of  this 
death  put  on  the  cross — then  what  remains  to  be 
done  to  complete  this  completed  work  to  and  in  the 
believer,  except  his  putting  to  his  own  personal 
credit  the  price  paid  on  the  cross  for  his  redemp- 

208 


Christ  as  the  Unit  of  Life  in  the  Believer 

tion?  This  takes  him  from  under  the  law,  so  that 
he  can  never  again  be  held  accountable  for  sin's 
debt,  it  having  been  canceled  by  his  Elder  Brother 
giving  his  own  life  for  him.  But  to  make  this  fully- 
available  and  always  effective,  he  must  now  remem- 
ber that  he  is  no  longer  his  own ;  that  he  belongs 
to  another  by  right  of  purchase,  and  that  he  is  now 
to  "glorify  God  in  his  body,  and  in  his  spirit,  which 
are  God's."  But  in  order  to  do  this  he  must  keep 
his  body  yielded  as  "the  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost," 
and  hold  this  Elder  Brother  ever  as  his  advocate, 
so  that  in  the  event  of  his  sinning  he  will  have 
his  case  taken  care  of  "with  the  Father."  (I.  John 
2:1.) 

Christ  as  the  unit  of  life  in  the  believer  means 
much  more  than  the  average  Christian  compre- 
hends and  perceives  until  brought  under  the  light 
of  the  Word  and  tested  by  an  actual,  living  experi- 
ence. For  many  reasons  it  is  much  easier  to  grade 
this  life  downward  than  upward.  The  upward  is 
only  easy  when  Christ  is  given  his  full  and  rightful 
place  in  the  heart;  or  when  one  can  say  with  Paul, 
"For  me  to  live  is  Christ."  Christ,  to  such  a  one,  is 
much  more  than  this  world  can  yield  with  all  its 
untold  treasures  of  learning,  of  material  wealth,  of 
power  and  pleasure.  Christ  put  before  everything 
else  means  a  very  heaven  upon  earth.  Who  has 
ever  been  a  loser  that  put  him  and  the  kingdom  of 
God  first  as  the  object  of  life's  pursuit  and  posses- 
sions? 

Francis  Xavier,  trained  in  the  University  of 
Paris,  brilliant,  attractive,  and  popular,  occupy- 
ing a  distinguished  chair  of  philosophy,  got  a  vision 

209 


The  Exalted  Life 

of  Jesus  and  eternal  verity,  and  at  once  gave  up 
his  professorship,  with  all  that  it  meant,  for  a 
life  of  suffering,  self-sacrifice  and  poverty.  To- 
day his  life  speaks  to  the  hearts  of  thousands  of 
devoted  Christians  in  words  that  thrill  and  bum 
with  the  most  fervent  zeal  and  the  highest  and 
truest  courage  and  devotion. 

When  Christ  becomes  the  center  and  object  of 
life  there  is  nothing  too  great  to  give  up  to  and 
for  him,  and  nothing  too  hard  to  undertake  at 
his  command.  Literary  fame,  worldly  honor,  am- 
bition for  power,  home  and  country,  friends  and 
kindred,  ease  and  pleasure,  and  very  self  itself,  are 
all  gladly  poured  out  as  an  offering  to  him.  The 
alabaster  box  is  broken  and  the  precious  ointment 
poured  on  his  head  with  tears  of  gladness.  No  one 
can  give  Jesus  first  place  and  be  the  poorer  for  it. 
"There  is  no  man  that  hath  left  house,  or  brethren, 
or  sisters,  or  father,  or  mother,  or  wife,  or  children, 
or  lands,  for  my  sake  and  the  gospel's,  but  he 
shall  receive  an  hundred-fold,  now  in  this  time, 
houses,  and  brethren,  and  sisters,  and  mothers,  and 
children,  and  lands,  with  persecution;  and  in  the 
world  to  come,  eternal  Hfe."     (Mark  10:29,  30.) 

Here  we  have  a  wonderful  exchange.  This 
method  of  exchange  ought  to  find  a  larger  and  more 
ready  practice  among  Christian  pilgrims.  No  one 
can  travel  abroad  in  foreign  countries  without  con- 
forming to  this  law.  How  much  more  this  becomes 
true  and  necessary  with  travelers  to  the  heavenly 
country.  Earth's  commodities  must  be  exchanged 
for  what  will  pass  when  entering  eternity.  There 
the  natural  will  not  be  accepted;  nothing  but  the 

210 


Christ  as  the  Unit  of  Life  in  the  Believer 

spiritual  will  be  current  in  the  "city  beyond  death's 
sea."  The  natural  must  be  changed  into  the  spirit- 
ual, into  a  "better  and  more  enduring  substance," 
or  the  "world  to  come"  will  never  be  entered.  Flesh 
and  blood  can  never  enter  the  kingdom  of  God. 
"Except  ye  be  converted,  and  become  as  little  child- 
ren, ye  shall  not  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 
(Matthew  18:3.)  The  kingdom  being  spiritual 
only  those  having  a  nature  corresponding  with  its 
nature  can  enter  it.  Only  the  spirit-born  can  be 
citizens  of  that  kingdom,  and  all  earthly  treasures 
should  be  transmuted  into  the  principles  and  es- 
sence of  that  kingdom  if  they  are  to  abide  the 
fires  that  are  to  try  every  man's  work  of  what 
sort  it  is. 

How  glorious  this  principle  of  exchange!  We 
give  up  the  earthly — and  yet  it  is  ours  for  use — for 
the  heavenly.  We  exchange  sin  for  holiness,  death 
for  life,  time  for  eternity,  self  for  Christ.  Think 
of  this  wonderful  substitution !  Not  only  did  Christ 
die  for  us,  but  his  very  life  is  to  take  the  place 
of  our  life,  so  that  we  henceforth  are  to  live  with 
his  life.  No  room  for  self,  now  that  Christ  fills 
it  all.  "Not  I,  but  Christ,"  is  the  triumphant  ex- 
clamation of  St.  Paul.  Here  there  can  never  be 
any  great  loss ;  none  finally.  We  are  not  only 
Christ's  inheritance,  "his  inheritance  in  the  saints," 
but  he  is  also  our  inheritance  by  the  new  birth, 
our  life.  Can  we  ever  lose  it  ?  "For  I  am  persuaded 
that  neither  death,  nor  life,  nor  angels,  nor  prin- 
cipalities, nor  powers,  nor  things  present,  nor  things 
to  come,  nor  height,  nor  depth,  nor  any  other  crea- 
ture shall  be  able  to  separate  us  from  the  love  of 

211 


The  Exalted  Life 

God,  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord."  (Romans 
8:38,39.) 

What  a  sweep  of  forces  and  agencies  are  here 
put  in  aUgnment  against  the  believer's  security! 
No  kind  of  suffering  or  loss,  even  of  life  itself, 
can  separate  from  the  love  of  God.  Death,  life, 
kingly  powers,  angelic  forces,  nothing  in  time,  noth- 
ing in  space,  nor  any  created  thing  can  break  this 
union.  Why?  Because  it  is  the  very  life  of  Christ 
that  is  pitted  against  these  forces.  He  has  con- 
quered Satan,  demons,  death,  and  the  grave.  He 
carries  at  his  girdle  the  keys  of  "hell  and  of  death." 
He  has  all  power  both  in  heaven  and  on  earth 
committed  to  him;  and  as  it  is  his  life  that  we  live, 
what  power  or  loss  need  we  fear? 

Who  should  hesitate  for  one  moment  to  trans- 
fer all  to  the  use  and  keeping  of  this  power?  It 
is  the  only  power  that  can  transform  the  life  and 
rule  the  conduct,  so  as  to  make  life  worth  living. 

The  need  of  the  hour  is  for  Christians  to  have 
their  eyes  focused  on  Jesus,  "looking  unto  him." 
Why  should  the  cry  of  hundreds  and  thousands 
of  young  people  be  for  entertainments,  amusements, 
— for  the  dance,  card  parties,  concerts,  picture 
shows,  theaters — instead  of  "we  would  see  Jesus"? 
Can  these  change  the  character  and  transform  the 
life?  Christ  can  entertain  angels;  how  much  more 
ought  men  and  wom.en  that  want  to  be  saved  from 
sin  and  be  fitted  for  heaven  be  drawn  to,  and  at- 
tracted by  him.  The  elevation,  the  morality  of 
the  whole  world  depends  upon  what  Christ  is  and 
what  he  becomes  to  the  world  by  its  acceptance 
of  him.    With  the  eyes  turned  upon  self,  and  away 

212    ' 


Christ  as  the  Unit  of  Life  in  the  Believer 

from  Jesus  means  the  loss  of  life's  mission,  life's 
values,  and  finally  of  life  itself.  No  life  is  worth 
living,  or  worthily  lived,  aside  from  Christ,  whatever 
its  achievements  may  have  been. 

Christ  as  the  unit  of  life  in  the  believer  will  solve 
the  problem  that  is  now  painfully  troubling  and 
distracting  the  various  divisions  of  the  militant 
Church  on  the  line  of  confederation,  or  organic 
unity.  In  the  early  history  of  the  Church,  in  apos- 
tolic times,  this  unity  was  complete.  "And  they 
continued  stedfastly  in  the  apostles'  doctrine  and 
fellowship,  and  in  breaking  of  bread,  and  in  pray- 
ers."    (Acts  2:42.) 

Here  we  have  the  secret  of  this  unit.  Here  the 
Church,  the  body  of  Christ,  which  is  to  be  his 
representative  on  earth  during  the  gospel  age,  was 
organized.  The  same  power,  the  Holy  Spirit,  of 
which  Christ  was  begotten,  his  Church  was  also 
begotten,  and  is  named  *'the  church  of  the  first- 
born." (Hebrews  12:23.)  The  same  power  that 
descended  upon  Christ  at  his  baptism  fell  upon 
the  Church  at  Pentecost.  Paul  makes  this  unity 
very  strong  when  he  says,  ''For  by  one  spirit  are 
we  all  baptized  into  one  body,  whether  we  be  Jews 
or  Gentiles,  whether  we  be  bond  or  free;  and  have 
been  all  made  to  drink  into  one  spirit."  (I.  Cor- 
inthians 12:  13.)  Corporately  the  Church  is  made 
the  temple  of  God.  "Know  ye  not  that  ye  are 
the  temple  of  God,  and  that  the  Spirit  of  God 
dwelleth  in  you?"     (I.  Corinthians  3:  16.) 

Again,  the  secret  of  this  unity  is  seen  not  only  in 
the  character  of  the  life  being  the  same  in  each  and 
all,  but  also  in  the  stedfast  adherence  and  devo- 

213 


The  Exalted  Life 

tion  of  the  Church  to  the  teachings  of  the  apostles. 
First  of  importance  on  this  Hne  is  a  true,  faithful, 
courageous,  and  consecrated  ministry.  The  minis- 
ter must  be  a  man  that  can  be  counted  on  and  relied 
on  as  one  standing  "in  Christ's  stead."  He  must  be 
loyal  to  Christ  and  his  teachings,  and  unswerving 
to  the  law  of  God.  He  must  teach  the  things  of  the 
Spirit  through,  and  imder  the  authority  of  the  Word, 
and  not  be  swayed  by  secular,  social,  or  political 
motives.  He  must  be  the  man  for  the  hour,  what- 
ever that  hour  may  be  or  may  mean. 

To  make  this  teaching  effective  and  safe- 
guarding, there  must  be  loyalty  to  it  upon  the  part 
of  the  Church.  This  done,  there  will  be  something 
of  apostolic  times  repeated  in  the  twentieth  cen- 
tury church.  "And  all  that  believed  were  to- 
gether, and  had  all  things  common,"  is  the  record 
of  the  early  Church. 

How  forcibly  Paul  puts  this  in  his  letter  to  the 
Ephesians  when  he  says,  "There  is  one  body,  and 
one  Spirit,  even  as  ye  are  called  in  one  hope  of 
your  calling;  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism,  one 
God  and  Father  of  all,  who  is  above  all,  and 
through  all,  and  in  you  all."    (Ephesians  4:  4,  5,  6.) 

Here  are  seven  units  blending  in  one  glorious 
compound  of  spiritual  life,  all  in  one  common  Lord. 
How  eager  Christians  ought  to  be  to  maintain 
this  unit  of  life,  even  to  the  hazard  of  some  long- 
established  and  cherished  dogma.  It  may  not  al- 
wa3^s  be  easy  to  do ;  for  divergent  forces  are  ever 
at  work  to  break  this  harmony  and  thereby  disrupt 
the  body;  but  it  cannot  be  done,  for  the  life  is  a 
common  life — "one  body,  one  spirit,  one  hope,  one 

214 


Clirist  as  the  Unit  of  Life  in  the  Believer 

Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism,  and  one  God  and 
Father  of  all."  If  the  various  members  of  this 
body  were  to  live  in  the  continual  conservation  and 
consciousness  of  this  one  life  that  is  to  pervade 
all  its  members,  no  fatal  cism  could  possibly  occur. 

It  is  true  that  organically  the  Church,  like  the 
human  body,  is  an  earthen  vessel,  and  hence  has 
weaknesses  corresponding  to  its  earthliness ;  but 
these  need  never  result  in  its  dishonor  and  despolia- 
tion any  more  than  in  the  case  of  the  physical  body 
itself.  These  very  weaknesses,  penetrated  and  con- 
trolled by  the  love  and  the  graces  of  the  divine  na- 
ture, bring  more  glory  to  God  and  attract  a  wider 
attention  than  if  made  through  some  loftier  and 
more  worthy  class  of  beings.  It  was  for  this  very 
reason  that  Paul  gloried  in  his  infirmities.  He 
did  not  want  to  glory  in  any  of  the  beauty  and 
excellency  of  his  own  life;  for  he  knew  that  by 
right  it  all  belonged  to  Christ. 

Here  the  glory,  beauty  and  power  of  the  Church 
is  seen  when  it  puts  Christ  as  its  head,  lives  by 
his  life,  and  wears  as  its  vesture  the  robe  of  his 
righteousness,  then  it  stands  as  the  true  representa- 
tive of  its  risen  and  ascended  Lord,  and  becomes 
thereby  his  faithful  and  available  witness  on  earth. 

Perfect  unity  with  Christ  through  the  Holy  Spir- 
it is  the  great  source  and  secret  of  the  unity  for 
the  body  of  the  Church.  Here  no  human  or  earthly 
barriers  can  intrude  and  obstruct  the  fellowship, 
for  it  is  in  and  with  the  Holy  Spirit.  All  the  mem- 
bers of  this  body  having  the  spirit  of  sonship,  there- 
by become  ''an  habitation  [a  dwelling  place]  of 
God  through  the  Spirit."     (Ephesians  2:22.)     The 

215 


The  Exalted  Life 

Holy  Spirit  takes  up  his  abode  in  the  regenerated 
spirit  and  makes  it  his  special  shrine,  in  and  from 
which  he  carries  out  his  purifying  and  unifying  work 
in  the  soul  and  body  of  the  individual  believer, 
and  then  through  this  agency  to  the  whole  body 
of  believers. 

Here  we  have  a  unity  that  is  worth  while,  that  is 
abiding  and  eternal.  Paul  puts  this  clearly  and 
strongly  when  he  says,  "He  that  is  joined  unto 
the  Lord  is  one  spirit" ;  that  is,  one  with  him  in 
spirit.  (I.  Corinthians  6:  17.)  This  is  the  unity 
of  the  Trinity,  the  unity  that  Jesus  prayed  might 
obtain  in  his  Church.  Let  us  stop  and  listen  to  this 
prayer  of  all  prayers,  "That  they  all  may  be  one; 
as  thou.  Father,  art  in  me,  and  I  in  thee,  that  they 
also  may  be  one  in  us ;  that  the  world  may  believe 

that  thou  hast  sent  me that  they  may  be  one, 

even  as  we  are  one:  I  in  them,  and  thou  in  me,. that 
they  may  be  made  perfect  in  one."  (John  17:21- 
23.) 

Can  one  listen  to  this  prayer  without  a  bowed 
head,  a  blushing  face,  and  a  humbled  heart,  when 
he  views  the  registrations  of  useless  and  senseless 
strife,  contentions  and  divisions  that  characterize 
the  followers  and  representatives  of  this  Man  of 
Nazareth?  In  the  light  of  this  prayer,  and  in 
the  face  of  the  unity  of  the  Church,  in  the  unity  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  how  can  so  many  diversified  organi- 
zations be  maintained  at  such  a  needless  expense 
of  men  and  means  ?  Can  it  be  said  that  "we  are  la- 
borers together  with  God,  that  we  are  God's  hus- 
bandry, that  we  are  God's  building"? 

216 


Christ  as  the  Unit  of  Life  in  the  Believer 

How  Paul  deplored  and  denounced  these  divisions 
in  the  Church  at  Corinth,  and  how  forcible  his 
statements  and  his  reasoning  in  the  case!  In  stat- 
ing the  cause  of  the  division,  he  gives  a  very  con- 
mon  one  as  seen  in  the  modern  churches ;  the  land- 
ing and  following  of  favorite  leaders.  "Now  this 
I  say,  that  every  one  of  you  saith,  I  am  of  Paul ; 
and  I  of  Apollos ;  and  I  of  Cephas ;  and  I  of  Christ." 
What  a  deplorable  condition  to  put  Christ  in,  pitting 
these  men  against  him  and  rending  him  in  pieces ! 
Well  does  the  apostle  ask  these  factions :  "Is  Christ 
divided?  Was  Paul  crucified  for  you?  Or  were 
ye  baptized  in  the  name  of  Paul  ?"  What  searching 
questions  to  put  to  the  professed  followers  of 
Jesus!  Why  could  not  all  have  selected  Christ  as 
their  leader?  Why  rend  his  body  as  the  rabble 
wanted  to  rend  his  seamless  robe  on  Calvary  ?  Who 
are  we,  says  Paul,  but  "ministers  by  whom  ye  be- 
lieved"? We  have  only  done  the  planting  and  the 
watering,  and  in  this  we  are  one.  It  is  God  that 
caused  the  growth.  Here  there  is  no  ground  for 
rivalry,  for  every  one  shall  receive  his  own  reward 
according  to  the  work  that  he  has  done.  "There- 
fore," he  says,  "let  no  man  glory  in  men;  for  all 
things  are  yours;  whether  Paul,  or  Apollos,  or 
Cephas,  or  the  world,  or  life,  or  death,  or  things 
present,  or  things  to  come ;  all  are  yours ;  and  ye 
are  Christ's,  and  Christ  is  God's."  (I.  Corinthians 
3:21-23.) 

As  we  stand  in  utter  amazement,  fairly  bewild- 
ered and  speechless  in  the  presence  of  this  weeping 
vision,  can  we  think  of  any  ground  on  which 
to  plant  the  envious,  partisan,  schismatic,  and  sec- 

217 


The  Exalted  Life 

tarian  foot?  Paul  has  gathered  up  everything  in 
the  range  of  the  spiritual  and  the  material  universe 
— all  the  things  of  both  time  and  eternity — and 
put  them  as  the  Church's  inheritance  in  Christ. 
"All  are  yours !" 

In  this  wonderful  inventory,  it  may  be  proper 
to  say,  the  apostle  has  made  one  exception,  and  that 
one,  of  all  else,  is  usually  claimed  as  the  unques- 
tioned right  of  personal  possession.  If  there  is 
anything  that  one  has  the  inherent  right  to  possess, 
use,  control,  and  do  with  it  as  he  pleases,  it  is  him- 
self. "And  ye  are  Christ's,"  are  the  disposing  and 
deposing  words  that  annul  all  personal  rights  in  the 
case  and  assign  all  to  Christ. 


218 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Christ    as    the    Constructive    and    Expulsive 
Power  in  the  Believer. 

When  Christ  enters  the  heart  as  "the  power  of 
God  and  the  wisdom  of  God"  two  very  marked 
effects,  though  in  direct  contrast,  obtain  in  the  ex- 
perience and  Hfe  of  the  believer.  This  is  well  ex- 
pressed by  the  Lord  in  his  commission  and  instruc- 
tions to  Jeremiah  when  he  said,  "See,  I  have  this 
day  set  thee  over  the  nations  and  over  the  kingdoms, 
to  root  out,  and  to  pull  down,  and  to  destroy,  and 
to  throw  down,  to  build,  and  to  plant."  (Jeremiah 
1 :  10.) 

When  God  wants  to  change  a  people  or  a  nation 
he  first  changes  the  agencies  and  forces  of  evil 
with  the  weapons  of  righteousness  and  truth.  The 
forces  of  sin  are  always  in  possession  of  the  field 
until  overthrown  and  expelled.  The  world,  the 
flesh,  and  the  devil  are  everywhere  confederated 
against  Christ  and  his  Church,  and  with  these 
forces  we  as  individuals  have  to  contend.  Primar- 
ily Satan  is  the  power,  and  these  others  things  are 
used  instrumentally  to  accomplish  his  purposes  of 
ruin.  This  composite  of  evil  no  man  can  wrestle 
with  in  hope  of  victory.  It  is  very  certain  that 
St.  Paul  did  not  underrate  the  power  of  Satan  when 
he  says,  "For  we  wrestle  not  [only]  against  flesh 
and  blood,  but  against  principalities,  against  powers, 
against  the  rulers  of  the  darkness  of  this  world, 

219 


The  Exalted  Life 

against  spiritual  wickedness  in  high  places." 
(Ephesians  6:  12.) 

In  the  face  of  such  forces  can  we  be  astounded 
• — as  we  often  are  and  must  be — at  the  awful 
wreckage  that  is  going  on  everywhere  in  the  world? 
Who  can  estimate  the  extent  or  fix  a  limit  to  this 
ruin?  Here  are  the  direst  despotisms,  coUossal 
empires,  strong  with  millenniums  of  growing  his- 
tory and  untold  spiritual  agencies  in  the  heavenlies 
working  against  Christ  and  man's  highest  good. 
How  modem,  broad,  and  cultured  (so  called) 
thought  can  bar  a  personal  devil  from  its  creed, 
in  the  face  of  the  sin  and  woe — the  world's  tragedy 
written  in  tears  and  blood — witnessed  on  every 
hand,  no  thoughtful,  honest  mind  can  determine. 
These  things  are  here  fixed  and  awful  realities. 
He  that  does  not  hear  the  blare  of  the  trumpet  of 
Satan's  cohorts  must  be  deaf,  and  he  that  does  not 
see  the  symbol  of  evil  in  fullest  display  on  every 
hand  must  be  blind.  Saint  Peter  warns  the  Church 
to  be  sober  and  vigilant,  assigning  as  the  reason  that 
their  ''adversary  the  devil,  as  a  roaring  lion,  walketh 
about,  seeking  whom  he  may  devour." 

H  there  ever  was  a  time  when  Christians  needed 
self-control,  and  to  stand  firm  and  steadfast  against 
Satan,  it  is  now.  His  wiles  are  too  subtle  and  lur- 
ing in  these  days  of  culture  and  refinement  for  hu- 
man power  and  wisdom  to  grapple  with.  We  have 
to  reckon  with  this  force,  with  all  its  strength  and 
skill,  and  ought  to  take  it  seriously  to  heart.  Satan 
is  the  very  hierarchy  of  the  world  of  evil,  and  reigns 
and  rules  in  the  very  heavenlies.  Many  things 
in  the  world  around  us — and  even  in  the  Church — 

220 


Christ  as  the  Constructive  and  Expulsive  Power 

testify  to  the  presence  and  power  of  this  enemy  of 
all  righteousness.  Man  unaided  by  divine  grace 
is  the  victim  of  forces  of  evil  that  are  appalling. 
The  relations  that  he  sustains  to  the  world  and  all 
about  him  seem  the  most  fateful.  On  the  human 
side  failure  seems  written  well  nigh  everywhere. 
Look  at  the  record :  failures  in  business,  failures  in 
money,  failures  in  affection,  failures  in  character, 
failures  in  anticipations,  failures  in  health,  all 
finally  ending  in  death  and  the  grave.  In  how  many 
closets  gruesome  skeletons  grin  and  stare,  and  on 
the  trail  of  how  many  lives  the  fiendish  ghost  of 
some  murderous  sin  comes  dancing  out  of  the 
shadowy  past,  driving  its  victim  into  the  very  frenzy 
of  despair?  Who  has  not  failed  in  some  ways? 
Where  is  human  charity  and  forgiveness?  Who  is 
a  brother? 

Now,  dark  as  this  picture  is,  it  could  be  painted 
in  darker  colors  and  still  be  true.  But  the  ques- 
tion of  all  questions  comes  and  pleads  for  an 
answer.  Is  there  no  brighter  view,  no  higher  hope, 
no  better  goal  to  human  life  than  the  one  given? 
To  answer  these  questions  is  the  main  object  of 
this  chapter.  But  I  want  to  answer  in  such  a  way 
as  to  be  easily  understood,  and  also  to  be  so  scrip- 
turally  and  experimentally  vindicated  tliat  there 
may  be  no  hazard  to  any  soul  that  follows  the 
path  marked  out.  There  never  was  a  time,  possibly, 
when  ministers  and  religious  teachers  needed  to 
be  more  on  their  guard  and  more  certain  of  the 
soundness  of  their  doctrine  than  in  these  days. 
John   gives    the   warning  by   saying,   ''Believe   not 

221 


The  Exalted  Life 

every  spirit,  but  try  the   spirits  whether  they  are 
of  God." 

Many  are  being  deceived  by  giving  heed  to  se- 
ducing spirits  and  doctrines  of  devils.  Honest  and 
earnest  people  when  largely  given  to  emotionalism, 
may  be  unwittingly  led  to  surrender  themselves  to 
evil  spirits  when  they  think  they  are  surrendering 
to  the  Holy  Spirit.  This  is  especially  true  when 
there  are  marvelous  demonstrations  attending  re- 
ligious exercises.  Satan  is  always  on  hand  seeking 
to  counterfeit  the  true.  When  it  is  to  his  interest, 
he  will  withstand  the  agencies  of  the  truth  in  open 
opposition,  as  in  the  case  of  Elymas  the  sorcerer  as 
given  in  Acts  13 :  6-13.  When,  on  the  other  hand, 
it  is  to  his  interest  to  commend  the  agencies  of 
truth,  he  will  do  that  as  in  the  case  given  in  Acts 
16:16-18.  In  the  first  case  it  was  a  man  that 
withstood  Paul  and  Barnabas,  seeking  to  keep  a 
prominent  official  of  the  country  from  embracing 
the  faith.  In  the  second  case  it  was  a  woman  that 
Satan  was  using,  but  in  a  very  different  way  from 
the  first.  Here  it  is  commendation.  ''These  men 
are  the  servants  of  the  most  high  God,  which  show 
us  the  way  of  salvation."  This  was  kept  up  for 
many  days.  Now  could  anything  be  more  truthful 
or  commendatory  of  the  apostles  than  these  words, 
uttered  by  this  woman?  And  yet  they  were  the 
words  of  an  evil  spirit.  How  wily  Satan  is !  When 
he  wants  to  oppose  or  use  violence,  he  will  put  on 
masculinity,  but  when  he  wants  to  beguile  and  lure 
he  will  masquerade  in  the  feminine  costume.  Sa- 
tan is  always  after  the  mind  and  the  body,  as  his 
agents  of  activity  and  use ;  for  with  these  surren- 

222 


Christ  as  the  Constructive  and  Expulsive  Power 

dered  to  him  he  can  practice  all  manner  of  deception 
and  work  all  kinds  of  counterfeits  at  will.  With 
the  senses  and  the  emotional  nature  in  full  con- 
trol, he  can  be  an  angel  of  light  or  a  demon  of 
darkness.  He  can  give  thrills  of  joy  and  streams 
of  life  through  the  psychic  nature,  when  under  his 
command,  that  will  be  most  gratifying  to  those  that 
crave  and  seek  the  emotional  as  proof  of  their 
acceptance  with  God  and  their  high  standing  in 
grace.  On  this  line  we  have  some  of  the  most 
abnormal  experiences ;  experiences  most  discredit- 
able to  sound  reason  and  contrary  to  the  character 
of  God,  who  is  a  God  of  order  and  not  a  God  of 
confusion.  When  the  emotional  system  is  aroused 
to  an  abnormal  degree  it  is  easy  for  the  enemy 
to  take  advantage  of  this  intoxication  of  the  senses, 
making  the  possessor  believe  that  it  is  all  divine, 
and  that  he  must  have  more  and  more  of  this 
glorious  experience.  Let  such  a  one  watch  the 
wiles  of  Satan,  and  be  guided  by  Ephesians  5 :  18, 
Romans  6:11,  and  James  4:7. 

This  wonderful  book,  the  Bible,  is  the  only  safe 
and  reliable  guide  for  weary  feet  treading  in  a 
path  that  to  human  knowledge  and  forecast  is  al- 
ways coming  from  the  profoundest  obscurity.  One 
act  incited  and  guided  by  this  book  is  worth  many 
thrills  of  feeling.  The  character  and  value  of 
impressions  are  determined  by  their  expression,  by 
what  they  lead  one  to  be  and  to  do.  Here  we  have 
divine  evolution.  Christ  within  is  the  secret  of 
Christ  without.  Christ  becomes  the  law  determin- 
ing the  character  of  the  life  of  his  followers.  This 
is  as  fixed  as  any  law  in  nature,  when  yielded  to 

223 


The  Exalted  Life 

and  lived  in  agreement  with.  It  is  as  fixed  and 
unerring  as  the  laws  of  vegetable  and  animal  life, 
only  higher,  and  conserving  of  interests  that  are 
eternal. 

Now  as  my  thought  has  been  one  largely  of  law, 
and  as  God  is  the  God  of  law  and  works  out  his 
plans  in  nature  and  in  grace  under  and  through 
the  agencies  of  law,  I  take  this  opportunity  of 
unfolding  and  applying  in  a  still  larger  and  more 
definite  way  this  law-principle  in  its  two-fold  ac- 
tion in  the  development  of  Christian  life  and  char- 
acter. The  law  that  is  now  under  consideration  is 
preeminently  and  exclusively  spiritual.  It  is  the 
law  to  which  St.  Paul  ascribes  his  victory  after 
his  helpless  and  hopeless  struggle  in  the  seventh 
chapter  of  Romans.  He  comes  out  of  that  awful 
battle  saying,  *'For  the  law  of  the  spirit  of  life  in 
Christ  Jesus  hath  made  me  free  from  the  law 
of  sin  and  death."     (Romans  8:2.) 

His  experience  now  covers  the  whole  realm  of 
law,  both  in  the  old  and  the  new — the  Jewish  and 
the  Christian — dispensation.  Here  life  is  found  at 
its  worst  and  at  its,  best — the  self-determining  and 
the  Christ-determining  goals.  The  one  life  ending 
in  hopeless  defeat;  the  other  in  triumphant  vic- 
tory. The  one  having  its  weights  and  besetments ; 
the  other  with  shackles  all  broken  so  runs  as  to 
obtain.  Under  the  one  law,  sin  and  death  reigned ; 
under  the  other,  righteousness  and  life  reigned. 
Here  Paul  got  away  from  the  dual  life  and  came 
into  the  completed  life  in  Christ  Jesus,  where  Christ 
was  the  unit  of  his  life.  Until  this  state  of  oneness 
with   Christ,    this    wholeness   of   life   in    Christ   is 

224 


Cbriet  a»  tlie  ConstiaiGtive  and  Expulsive  Power 

reached,  there  will  be  bafflings,  unavoidable  weak- 
'nessscs,  uncertainty,  up-and-down  experiences,  that 
often  result  in  the  cry  of  wretchedness. 

I  want  to  candidly  ask  the  reader,  at  this  stage, 
if  he  believes  that  there  is  no  better  appeal  that 
Christ  can  make  to  a  sin-cursed  race  than  that  made 
through  "the  law  of  sin  and  death"?  If  not,  what 
about  this  other  law,  called  "the  law  of  the  Spirit 
of  life  in  Christ  Jesus"  ?  Both  are  God's  laws,  and 
will  fulfill  the  divine  purpose  in  their  enactment 
and  use.  If  the  one  works  to  man's  ruin,  his  over- 
throw, will  not  the  other  as  certainly  work  to  his 
recovery?  If  Jesus  went  under  the  law  of  sin  and 
death  in  man's  stead,  and  by  his  quickening  or  res- 
urrection from  the  dead  became  the  law  of  the 
spirit  of  life  to  man,  then  he  has  bridged  the  awful 
chasm  between  sin  and  salvation,  thereby  making 
the  gulf  passable  to  all  that  accept  him  as  their 
deliverer.  Christ,  as  God's  only  son,  being  also 
human,  puts  saved  humanity  at  its  highest  and  best ; 
being  the  revelation  of  what  it  is  to  be  here,  and 
what  it  shall  be  hereafter.  Christ  is  the  climax 
the  acme  of  the  divine  nature  and  its  perfections, 
and  toward  this  goal  God's  sons  are  ever  in  a 
progressive  ascent.  The  real  achievement  of  faith 
is  to  put  this  ideal  into  realization.  The  gulf 
between  the  highest  possible  attainments  in  grace 
and  present  experience  ought  always  to  be  narrowing 
until  that  state  is  reached  which  Paul  designates 
as  "a  perfect  man,  unto  the  measure  of  the  stature 
of  the  fulness  of  Christ."  (Galatians  4:  13.)  Here 
is  full  manhood.  The  adolescent  period  in  grace 
is  passed  and  maturity  is  reached. 

225 


The  Exalted  Life 

Paul  confessed  unto  a  measure  of  non-attain- 
ment saying,  I  am  not  "already  perfect" ;  counting 
that  he  had  not  yet  apprehended  all  that  Christ  had 
apprehended  him  for;  but  he  said  I  am  "reaching 
forth,"  and  I  am  "pressing  toward  the  mark."  This 
should  be  the  stimulus  and  the  ambition  of  every 
child  of  grace,  not  stopping  short  of  the  realiza- 
tion of  what  he  was  intended  to  be  in  Christ  Jesus. 
Who  can  judge  of  man's  capacity  for  goodness  with 
Christ  in  him  as  its  source  and  its  measure?  Son- 
ship  ought  to  fill  one  with  such  a  sense  of  moral 
dignity  and  true  worth  that  he  can  never  more  feel 
that  he  is  keyed  to  failure.  Jesus  uttered  words 
of  great  assurance  when  he  said,  "I  give  unto  them 
eternal  life;  and  they  shall  never  perish,  neither 
shall  any  man  pluck  them  out  of  my  hand."  (St. 
John  10:  28.) 

What  a  feeble,  sickly  sentimentalism  prevails  with 
many  people  on  the  question  of  ability  to  hold  out 
if  the  Christian  life  were  espoused.  Even  Chris- 
tians sometimes  shrink  from  strong  affirmations  on 
this  line.  This  "law  of  sin  and  death,"  like  a  Niag- 
ara, sweeps  them  with  its  relentless  tide,  and  they 
fear  that  they  may  some  day  fall  by  the  hand  of  the 
enemy.  This  fear  has  kept  many  from  making  an 
open  avowal  of  their  faith;  it  has  chilled  the  ardor 
of  many  timid  ones,  and  made  utter  cowards  out 
of  millions.  Personally,  I  like  to  cherish  the  thought 
that  there  is  nothing  so  certain  of  final  victory 
as  this  life  in  Christ.  God's  laws  are  not  failures. 
Test  them  and  see  if  they  do  not  work  as  intended. 
Does  not  the  law  of  sin  and  death  work?  If  it  does, 
then  this  other  law,  "the  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life 

226 


Christ  as  the  Constructive  and  Expulsive  Power 

in  Christ  Jesus,"  the  mightier  law,  will  also  work 
to  the  end  and  purpose  intended;  namely,  giving 
freedom  "from  the  law  of  sin  and  death." 

There  are  a  number  of  elements  or  forces  named 
by  the  apostle  as  uniting  in  this  work  of  recovery 
that  we  may  well  consider.  If  we  watch  the  trend 
of  divine  teaching  in  unfolding  the  plan  of  human 
redemption  through  the  ages,  we  shall  see  how  all 
the  teaching  has  been  focused  on  one  great  central 
goal — redemption  from  sin.  The  first  faint  gleam 
of  light  that  shot  athwart  the  darkness  of  a  hope- 
less world  was  the  promised  seed.  (Genesis  3 :  15.) 
Beginning  with  Abel  we  trace  the  gradually  grow- 
ing light  through  Seth,  the  second  seed,  and  then 
on  through  Noah,  Shem,  Abraham,  Isaac,  Jacob, 
Judah,  David,  to  Jesus,  the  Christ,  "the  light  of  the 
world."  Then  mark  again  how  the  light  grows 
through  the  various  epochs  of  the  worlds  history. 
Beginning  with  conscience — a  very  dim  and  uncer- 
tain light — we  pass  through  the  dispensations  of 
promise  and  law,  to  grace,  the  open  door  of  mercy  to 
a  fallen  world,  and  eternal  life  as  a  gift  to  sinning 
ones. 

To  be  a  little  more  specific  in  this  graded  manifes- 
tation and  life,  there  are  three  features  that  it 
may  be  well  to  note.  ( 1 )  God  as  seen  in  the  sphere 
of  law,  managing  the  judicial  affairs  of  the  world. 
(2)  Christ  as  seen  in  the  sphere  of  grace,  meeting 
and  canceling  all  the  claims  of  the  law.  (3)  The 
Holy  Spirit  in  the  sphere  of  power,  making  real 
as  an  experience,  the  work  and  life  of  Jesus  in 
the  believer.  Here  the  Holy  Spirit  covers  the 
whole  field  of  experimental  redemption.     Just  as 

227 


The  Exalted  Life 

the  law  of  sin  and  death  covered  the  whole  field 
of  moral  ruin,  so  here  the  law  of  the  Spirit  of 
life  in  Christ  Jesus  covers  the  whole  field  of  moral 
and  spiritual  recovery  from  this  ruin.  The  Holy 
Spirit  makes  real  what  before  was  only  judicially 
true.  Here  the  whole  Godhead  is  coupled  with 
man's  redemption. 

This  eighth  chapter  of  Romans  ought  to  be  called 
the  chapter  on  the  Holy  Spirit,  as  it  deals  so  largely 
with  the  work  of  the  Spirit  in  and  for  the  believer. 
It  covers  the  whole  realm  from  the  beginning  of 
spiritual  life  to  the  transformation,  the  redemption 
of  the  physical  body.  Note  the  work  of  the  Spirit: 
It  gives  life;  it  is  "the  Spirit  of  life."  It  rules  the 
life,  the  conduct;  "walk  after  the  Spirit."  It  in- 
spires the  thinking,  "mind  the  things  of  the  Spirit." 
It  fills  the  mind  with  peace;  "it  is  life  and  peace." 
It  takes  one  out  of  the  sphere  of  the  flesh ;  "not  in 
the  flesh — if  so  be  that  the  Spirit  of  God  dwell  in 
you."  It  determines  the  question  of  discipleship ; 
"if  any  man  have  not  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  he  is 
none  of  his."  It  puts  the  spiritual  into  ascendant 
rule;  "the  Spirit  is  life  because  of  righteousness." 
It  is  life-giving  to  the  physical  body;  "shall  quicken 
your  mortal  bodies  by  his  Spirit  that  dwelleth  in 
you."  (Note  that  it  is  not  the  corruptible  body 
that  is  already  dead  that  is  quickened.)  It  is  also 
death-dealing  to  the  sin  tendencies  of  the  flesh;  "if 
ye  through  the  Spirit  do  mortify  the  deeds  of  the 
body,  ye  shall  live."  It  is  proof  of  sonship;  "as 
many  as  are  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  they  are 
the  sons  of  God."  It  is  the  spirit  of  kinship;  "the 
spirit   of   adoption."     It   gives   unquestionable   as- 

22S 


Christ  as  the  Constructive  and  Expulsive  Power 

surance  of  heirship ;  "the  Spirit  himself  beareth 
witness  with  our  Spirit,  that  we  are  the  children  of 
God."  He  stimulates,  guides,  and  controls  all  true 
praying.  (See  Romans  8:26,  27,  for  the  verifica- 
tion of  this.) 

Not  all  praying  is  acceptable  to  God.  We  read 
of  prayers  that  are  despisable  and  abominable. 
Then  we  read  of  prayers  that  are  pleasing  to  God 
and  ascend  as  sweet  odors  before  him.  It  is  said 
of  Cornelius  that  his  prayer  was  heard  and  that 
his  alms  were  had  in  remembrance.  When  the 
praying  is  done  in  the  Holy  Spirit  we  can  never 
pray  amiss.  It  is  more  the  divine  One  do- 
ing the  praying  than  the  individual.  The  human 
faculties  are  taken  possession  of  and  the  praying 
is  done  through  them,  and  cannot  be  other  than 
in  harmony  with  the  divine  will.  In  the  light  of 
this  Scripture  what  shall  we  say  of  the  thousands 
and  millions  of  unanswered  prayers  that  must  be 
in  evidence  throughout  the  Church?  What  a  sad 
comment  on  the  believer's  infirmities,  for  which  he 
does  not  seek  the  Spirit's  help.  "The  Spirit  also 
helpeth  our  infirmities." 

Now  as  the  Holy  Spirit  is  "the  law  of  the  Spirit 
of  life  in  Christ  Jesus"  we  can  readily  see  which 
way  the  believer  is  headed  when  Spirit-guided  and 
Spirit-empowered.  When  one  is  in  partnership 
with  Christ,  and  walking  with  him,  he  must  go  the 
way  he  is  going.  "Because  I  live,  ye  shall  live  also," 
condenses  all  that  Christ  is  meant  to  be  to  his 
people ;  Christ  is  not  only  the  way  and  the  truth,  but 
he  is  also  the  life.  This  life  embraces  two  great 
thoughts ;   namely,   emancipation    from   moral   evil, 

229 


The  Exalted  Life 

and  a  fuller  life  and  experience  in  Christ  Jesus. 
Here  we  have  both  the  destructive  and  the  construc- 
tive in  the  building  of  Christian  character.  This 
law  of  life  has  wonderful  power  to  overcome  and 
cast  out  the  forces  of  evil.  How  wonderfully  this 
life  unfolds  and  enlarges,  as  previously  noted, 
when  we  read  the  gospel  message  as  reported  by 
St.  John.  It  begins  with  life,  Christ  himself  being 
the  life.  "In  him  was  life."  Then  this  life  obtains 
in  the  human  soul  by  regeneration.  This  beginning 
life  is  designated  by  the  term  "babes  in  Christ," 
and  is  unfolded  in  the  third  chapter  by  St.  John. 
Its  indwelling  character  is  seen  in  the  message  of 
Jesus  to  the  woman  at  the  well,  called  a  well  of 
water  within.  Later  in  this  message  Christ  is  called 
the  living  bread  that  nourishes  this  life.  Still  later, 
in  the  seventh  of  John,  it  becomes  overflowing 
rivers,  called  "rivers  of  living  water."  Finally,  in 
chapters  14-17,  it  is  presented  in  all  its  fullness  and 
maturity  as  an  experience,  and  as  an  abiding  life, 
of  which  Christ  is  the  source  and  never  failing  sup- 
ply. 

Here  we  have  the  secret  of  growth,  of  enlarge- 
ment, of  spiritual  conquest,  the  incoming  of  a  new 
life-source.  While  Christ  was  born  of  woman, 
and  thus  human,  he  was  not  of  Adam's  fallen  seed, 
for  he  did  not  inherit  a  fallen  nature.  He  was 
without  sin,  was  sinless,  and  hence  could  not  con- 
tribute to  sin  in  the  life  of  his  followers.  His  whole 
nature  is  a  contribution  to  holiness.  Wherever 
this  life  flows,  death  and  sin  are  put  away.  Like 
the  river  in  Ezekiel's  vision,  "everything  shall  live 
whither  the  river  cometh."     It  is  further  said  of 

230 


Christ  as  the  Constructive  and  Expulsive  Power 

this  river  that  ''upon  the  bank  thereof,  on  this  side 
and  on  that  side,  shall  grow  all  trees  for  meat, 
whose  leaf  shall  not  fade,  neither  shall  the  fruit 
thereof  be  consumed :  it  shall  bring  forth  new  fruit 
according  to  his  months,  because  their  waters  they 
issued  out  of  the  sanctuary:  and  the  fruit  thereof 
shall  be  for  meat,  and  the  leaf  thereof  for  medicine  " 
(Ezekiel  47:12.) 

How  strikingly  similar  this  description  to  that 
given  in  the  last  chapter  of  the  book  of  Revelation. 
"And  he  shewed  me  a  pure  river  of  water  of  life, 
clear  as  crystal,  proceeding  out  of  the  throne  of 
God  and  of  the  Lamb.  In  the  midst  of  the  street 
of  it,  and  on  either  side  of  the  river,  was  there  the 
tree  of  life,  which  bare  twelve  manner  of  fruits,  and 
yielded  her  fruit  every  month :  and  the  leaves  of  the 
tree  were  for  the  healing  of  the  nations."  (Reve- 
lation 22:  1,  2.) 

Are  these  not  marvelous  visions  of  gospel  times, 
of  days  in  which  we  are  now  living,  the  achieve- 
ments of  which  multiply  as  time  advances?  What 
began  in  a  period  of  great  dimness  and  obscurity  of 
vision  issues  in  a  day  so  bright  that  no  sun  is  need- 
ed to  give  light,  and  what  was  seen  to  come  forth 
from  under  the  steps  or  doorsill  of  a  remote  sanctu- 
ary ends  in  a  city  the  glory  of  which  "eye  hath  not 
seen,  nor  ear  heard,  neither  have  entered  into  the 
heart  of  man  to  conceive." 

Now  all  the  glory  of  the  conception,  inception, 
progress,  and  frnal  consummation  of  these  visions 
of  man's  restoration  to  his  lost  Eden  must  be  as- 
cribed to  the  wisdom,  the  love,  and  the  power  of 
God  as  revealed  in  Christ  Jesus.     All  the  glory  of 

231 


The  Exalted  liife 

the  first  Eden,  which  was  committed  to  the  first 
Adam  to  be  kept  by  him  for  himself  and  his  race 
being  lost,  was  committed  to  the  second  Adam  for 
recovery  and  added  glory.  This  is  now  being  won- 
derfully consummated.  For  nearly  two  thousand 
years  Jesus  has  held  the  field  of  opportunity  and 
recovery  for  man,  himself  leading  the  way  of 
achievement  and  victory.  He  not  only  taught  the 
perfect  life,  but  he  lived  it  himself.  He  not  only 
taught  his  disciples  the  life  that  ought  to  be,  but  he 
also  promised  the  needed  power  to  make  such  a  life 
possible.  He  has  even  put  himself,  as  **the  wisdom 
of  God,  and  the  power  of  God,"  at  man's  disposal. 
Can  anything  more  than  this  be  done  ?  Think  of 
it!  The  wisdom  of  God  is  yours.  Do  we  want  to 
know  how  to  build  a  perfect  character?  Here  is 
infinite  wisdom  at  our  command.  Do  we  want  pow- 
er to  carry  out  our  plans  for  character  building? 
Here  Omnipotence  responds  to  our  needs.  To  make 
these  available,  as  needed,  God  has  made  Christ 
both  his  wisdom  and  his  power  to  his  people. 
What  a  marvelous  surrender  of  himself  to  igno- 
rance and  weakness,  and  all  so  easy  of  avail — made 
his  Son  to  be  these  to  all  that  will  accept  him. 
Not  only  is  Christ  in  his  own  life,  in  his  character, 
and  in  his  work,  the  very  highest  expression  of  the 
wisdom  and  the  power  of  God,  but  mark,  he  is  this 
also  in  the  life  and  character  of  his  followers.  How 
wonderful  that  such  a  life  as  Christ' lived  and  such 
power  as  he  had  in  transforming  character  is  put 
at  the  disposal  of  his  disciples  and  can  by  them  be 
made  available  in  their  own  transformation! 

232 


Christ  as  the  Constructive  and  Expulsiye  Power 

Now  all  this,  to  the  believer,  is  made  possible 
through  the  gospel.  This  was  the  occasion  of  Paul's 
glorying  in  the  cross,  and  of  his  boldness  in  the 
espousal  of  the  gospel  as  the  only  means  of  salva- 
tion. He  qualifies  it  as  being  the  very  power  of 
God  unto  salvation.     (Romans  1 :  16.) 

True,  as  I  have  heard  it  said,  this  gospel  is  sim- 
ply good  news,  a  message  about  the  Christ  and  not 
the  Christ  himself.  Here  we  confront  one  of  the 
perils  of  the  times.  It  is  so  easy  to  preach  about 
Christ  and  yet  not  preach  him.  The  gospel  may  be 
used  as  a  vessel — most  attractive  in  its  artistic 
beauty  and  display  as  a  vessel — but  empty,  having 
nothing  in  it.  Of  what  use  is  a  vessel,  however 
costly  in  its  material  and  fashioning,  if  it  bears 
nothing  in  it  of  use  in  meeting  human  needs?  It  is 
just  like  the  "broken  cistern  that  can  hold  no  water." 
The  gospel  is  only  the  empty  vessel  if  it  does  not 
carry  Christ  in  it.  What  would  the  commission 
have  amounted  to  if  Christ  had  not  been  the  very 
soul  and  life  of  it?  It  would  have  been  no  higher 
or  better  than  paganism.  The  secret  of  the  trans- 
forming power  of  truth  in  the  lives  of  millions  of 
men  and  women  is  that  Christ  is  the  truth.  Jesus 
put  this  in  a  very  definite  way  when  he  said,  "I  am 
the  truth."  And  again  when  he  said,  "Except  ye 
eat  the  flesh  of  the  Son  of  man,  and  drink  his  blood, 
ye  have  no  life  in  you.  Whoso  eateth  my  flesh, 
and  drinketh  my  blood,  hath  eternal  life.  .  .for  my 
flesh  is  meat  indeed,  and  my  blood  is  drink  indeed." 
(John  6:53-56.) 

This  teaching  was  mysterious  and  offensive  to  the 
nmltitude,   and  even  to  some  of  the  disciples,  all 

233 


The  Exalted  Life 

understanding  the  meaning  in  too  literal  a  way. 
Then  Jesus  qualifies  the  meaning  as  being  spiritual, 
telling  them  that  here  was  life  and  spirit  in  his 
words,  saying  "It  is  the  Spirit  that  quickeneth;  the 
flesh  profiteth  nothing :  the  words  that  I  speak  unto 
you,  they  are  spirit  and  they  are  Hfe." 

Here  we  strike  the  very  acme  of  Christ's  teach- 
ing. He  said,  "I  am  that  bread  of  life" ;  "I  am  the 
living  bread  which  came  down  from  heaven" ;  "my 
flesh  and  my  blood  are  meat  and  drink" ;  expressions 
all  so  contradictory  to  human  reason  and  so  repul- 
sive to  refined  taste.  But  the  grossness  of  this 
literalism  vanishes  when  we  associate  it  with  the 
scene  at  the  last  supper.  Here  Jesus  called  the 
bread  his  body  and  the  wine  his  blood.  Here  the 
actual,  veritable  life  of  Christ  was  to  pass  into  the 
lives  of  his  disciples  and  he  thereby  becomes  their 
life,  is  the  teaching.  This  was  a  plain  but  a  very 
strange  announcement  of  his  death  and  of  his  resur- 
rection. Animal  and  vegetable  life  to  become  food 
— be  transmitted  into  the  life  of  another — must 
undergo  the  transformation  of  death;  must  die  to 
live  again.  This  was  the  great  lesson  that  Jesus 
taught  his  disciples.  "I  die  that  thou  mayest  live." 
It  was  only  by  dying  and  living  again  that  he  could 
be  made  available  as  their  life;  be  appropriated  by 
the  soul  just  as  really  as  food  is  appropriated  by  the 
body.  In  order  to  promote  growth,  all  life  must 
lay  hold  of  extraneous  substances  and  transmit 
them  into  itself.  Each  kind  of  life  has  this  strange 
power  of  changing  the  same  substance  into  the 
kind  of  life  peculiar  to  its  own.  This  is  true  of  all 
the  various  forms  of  plant  and  animal  life.     One 

234 


Christ  as  the  Constructive  and  Expulsive  Power 

form  of  life  may  be  the  most  noxious  and  deadly, 
while  another  may  be  the  most  constructive  and 
life-giving. 

All  this  is  true  in  the  spiritual  life.  Just  as 
all  fruits  and  vegetables  and  all  animal  life,  when 
eaten  and  digested,  become  the  life  of  the  body, 
so  he  that  has  fellowship  with  Christ  through  faith, 
has  the  Christ-life  changed  into  his  life,  or  possibly 
better,  his  life  changed  into  the  Christ-life,  so  he 
can  say  with  Paul,  "I  live;  yet  not  I,  but  Christ 
liveth  in  me." 

To  live  in  Christ,  there  must  be  a  clear  percep- 
tion of  him,  he  must  enter  the  mind  and  take  pos- 
session of  the  thought-life  in  such  a  way  that  every 
thought  shall  be  brought  into  captivity  to  the  obe- 
dience of  Christ.  (II.  Corinthians  10:5.)  Christ 
must  hold  all  the  mental  and  moral  faculties  in 
bondage  to  himself.  A  life  of  faith  never  dulls- 
or  deadens  the  intellectual  faculties.  Faith  and 
reason  are  never  in  conflict;  the  one  does  not  in- 
crease at  the  expense  of  the  other.  Faith  often 
goes  where  reason  cannot  go;  but  it  is  because  it 
is  higher  than  reason,  and  not  that  it  is  contrary  to 
reason.  We  cannot  go  very  far  in  any  direction 
until  reason  has  reached  its  horizon.  Then  is  when 
we  must  couple  up  with  higher  reason,  the  divine. 

Reason  soon  loses  itself  in  the  symbols  that  Jesus 
uses  to  represent  himself  as  the  life  of  his  people. 
Reason  said,  ''How  can  this  man  give  us  his  flesh 
to  eat?"  Jesus  said,  "He  that  eateth  me,  even  he 
shall  Hve  by  me."  But  reason  asks.  How?  Jesus 
bases  his  own  life  on  the  divine  life,  saying,  "I  live 
by  the  father"  ;  so  ye  must  live  by  me,  "by  my  words, 

235 


The  Exalted  Life 

they  are  truth  and  they  are  life."  These  words,  this 
truth,  must  be  digested  by  faith,  and  thereby  con- 
verted into  the  real  substance  of  Christ's  life  in  the 
believer.  Just  as  all  articles  of  food  taken  into 
the  body  are  converted  into  blood,  and  then  by  the 
heart  distributed  to  every  part  of  the  body  for  its 
growth  and  constant  replenishing,  so  all  that  Christ 
is  in  his  atoning  sacrifice,  his  shed  blood,  and  his 
resurrection  life,  is  made  available  by  faith  and  the 
quickening  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  believer,  as  his 
life.  Just  as  nothing  can  become  our  life  physically 
until  it  **has  passed  into  blood,"  so  nothing  of  Christ 
can  be  ours,  become  our  life,  until  there  is  an  ap- 
propriation of  it  as  actually  and  as  really  as  that  of 
partaking  of  physical  nourishment  by  eating  and 
drinking.  Christ  must  not  be  simply  a  composite  or 
a  deposit  in  the  life  of  the  believer,  but  he  must 
be  the  unit  of  his  life,  his  completed  life.  In  order 
to  be  this  he  must  be  assimilated.  The  Father  pre- 
pared him  for  this  assimilation  by  making  him 
flesh.  ''Christ,  the  Word,  was  made  flesh."  In 
him  God  and  truth  became  spiritually  nutritive,  and 
hence  life-giving.  As  all  vegetable  and  animal  life 
passes  through  death  in  order  to  be  turned  into 
blood  as  a  life-agent,  so  Jesus  taught  his  disciples 
at  this  last  supper  that  his  death  was  to  be  their 
life,  and  must  be  so  held  in  memory  by  his  Church 
until  his  return. 

Here  we  have  kinship  of  the  highest  order,  blood 
relationship  with  Jesus  our  Lord,  and  through  him 
relationship  with  God  the  Father.  Paul  makes  this 
fellowship  very  striking  and  forcible  when  he  says, 
'The  cup  of  blessing  which  we  bless,  is  it  not  the 

236 


Christ  as  the  Constructive  and  Expulsive  Power 

communion  of  the  blood  of  Christ?  The  bread 
which  we  break,  is  it  not  the  communion  of  the 
body  of  Christ?  For  we  being  many  are  one  bread, 
and  one  body:  for  we  are  all  partakers  of  that  one 
bread."     (I.  Corinthians  10:16.) 

What  a  mutual  relation  is  pictured!  All  are 
made  to  share  in  the  one  blood  and  one  body,  and 
so  become  one  body  because  partakers  of  that  one 
bread,  which  is  Christ.  Here  Christ  lives  again ; 
reproduces  and  reincarnates  himself  in  the  life  of 
his  Church.  This  being  true  what  kind  of  a  life 
must  his  Church  live,  be  expected  to  live,  if  living 
in  his  stead  and  living  a  life  co-ordinate  with  his? 
Here  is  godlikeness,  a  life  transformed  into  the 
divine.  This  transformation  is  ever  going  on  in  its 
heavenly  character,  so  that  more  and  more  the  home 
of  the  Spirit  is  among  the  things  that  are  pure  and 
holy.  When  these  are  absent  the  pilgrim  and  or- 
phaned feeling  take  possession  of  the  individual. 

When  Christ  enters  the  life,  two  forces  are  at 
once  in  action,  as  in  the  chapter  of  conflicts,  the 
seventh  of  Romans.  Until  Christ  comes  in  the 
"strong  man  armed  keepeth  his  palace."  But  when 
he,  the  stronger  one,  "comes  upon  him,  and  over- 
comes him,  he  takes  from  him  all  his  armor  wherein 
he  trusted,"  and  thrusts  him  out.  How  very  im- 
portant it  is  that  we  make  this  teaching  real,  as  real 
as  life,  for  it  is  life.  Satan,  the  strong  man,  is  real, 
sin  is  real,  life  is  real,  death  is  real.  Who  can  ques- 
tion this?  Just  as  real,  and  more  wonderfully  so, 
is  Christ,  the  Lord,  who  comes  into  our  lives  to 
make  all  things  new,  to  be  at  home  in  us  and  to 
be  one  with  us,  just  as  he  and  his  Father  are  one 

237 


The  Exalted  Life 

with  each  other.  When  our  Hfe  is  given  to  Christ 
and  then  is  replaced  by  his  Hfe,  the  consciousness 
of  this  fact  becomes  more  real  than  our  own  life 
was,  for  it  is  ever  merging  into  the  divine.  From 
this  time  onward,  the  life  is  ever  soaring  heaven- 
ward. The  power  of  this  uplifted  life  is  drawing, 
like  the  law  of  gravitation,  towards  the  things  that 
are  above,  and  earthly  things  are  losing  their  power 
more  and  more  to  control  and  pull  the  life  down- 
ward. 

With  this  divine  life  in  the  ascendency,  from 
which  the  spiritual  and  moral  life  is  now  evolved 
by  growth  from  this  original  seed,  which  is  Christ, 
there  is  an  ever  increasing  vital  activity  in  this  now 
component  life.  Since  writing  the  above  concern- 
ing Christ  giving  his  flesh  as  meat  and  his  blood  as 
drink,  there  came  into  my  hand  a  little  booklet 
called,  "The  Book  of  the  Century  Society,"  in 
which  the  writer  makes  some  statements  that  give 
added  force  to  the  symbol  used.  Speaking  of  the 
destructive  and  constructive  changes  going  on  in 
our  bodies — getting  rid  of  the  dead  cell  matter  and 
the  rebuilding  of  the  living  tissues — he  says:  "Of 
our  bodies  it  is  absolutely  true  that,  'in  life  we  are 
in  death.'  The  cell  gets  its  building  material  from 
the  blood.  If  the  blood  is  pure  and  free  from 
humors,  the  body  cannot  help  but  be  built  in  perfect 
health."  He  goes  on  to  say,  "Perfect  health  is  the 
exact  balance  between  the  destruction  of  cell-tissue 
by  the  activities  of  the  body  and  mind,  and  con- 
struction of  cell-tissue  by  the  activity  inherent  in 
the  remaining  living  cells,  which  have  the  won- 
derful power  of  reproducing  themselves." 

2SS 


Christ  as  the  Constructive  and  Expulsive  Power 

How  strikingly  this  represents  Christ  in  his  work 
of  grace  as  carried  on  in  the  beHever.  Redemption 
as  wrought  out  in  Christ  is  a  completed  work — "Ye 
are  complete  in  him" — but  to  the  believer  this  work 
is  ever  going  on  as  this  redemption  is  made  over 
to  him  and  consummated  in  him.  Here  the  life  in 
Christ  is  ever  enlarging,  growing  stronger,  while 
the  self-life  is  dwarfing  and  growing  weaker.  Just 
as  there  is  a  daily  renewal  in  the  divine  life,  so 
there  is  a  daily  dying  to  the  self-life.  Death  severs 
the  relation  with  the  old  life,  so  that  it  is  no  longer 
to  have  control,  and  thereby  opens  the  way  for 
union  with  the  new  life,  the  risen  Christ.  There 
is  now  another  and  different  force  in  command,  and 
the  trend  is  upward  instead  of  downward,  lifeward 
instead  of  deathward,  heavenward  instead  of  earth- 
ward. 

Life  from  now  on  has  a  new  and  higher  motive, 
which  more  and  more  influences  its  activities.  Like 
a  ship  sailing  the  seas,  having  a  force  within  that 
drives  it  against  both  wind  and  tide,  so  the  life 
that  is  linked  with  Christ  can  stem  the  tide  of  the 
law  of  sin  and  death  and  finally  anchor  in  the  har- 
bor of  eternal  peace  and  safety.  The  law  of  sin 
and  death,  like  gravity,  may  exist,  but  the  law  of 
the  spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus  gives  freedom  from 
it.  Dr.  A.  T.  Pierson  says,  "Gravity,  while  never 
ceasing,  can  be  overcome.  A  man  may  be  in  a 
balloon  and  fastened  firmly  to  the  earth,  but  the 
moment  he  cuts  the  cable  that  holds  him  down  he 
finds  another  force  operating  and  carrying  him 
aloft  in  spite  of  himself,  and  the  higher  he  rises 
the  weaker  becomes  the  earth  pull." 

239 


The  Exalted  Life 

How  wonderMly  transforming  and  uplifting  the 
life  of  the  all-conquering  Christ!  A  degenerate 
life  may  turn  the  world  into  a  hell  and  the  life 
into  a  demon,  but  the  regenerate  life  can  change 
the  world  into  a  heaven  and  the  demon  into  a  son 
of  God.  How  helpless  man  is  when  under  the 
forces  of  evil,  but  how  all-masterful  when  there 
comes  into  him  that  wonderful  worker  and  under- 
takes for  him.  Hear  Paul's  description  in  the 
words,  "For  it  is  God  who  worketh  in  you  both 
to  will  and  to  do  of  his  good  pleasure."  (Philip- 
pians  2:13.)  God  through  Christ  is  the  perfect 
master  of  sin  in  the  believer.  Here  is  not  only 
the  will  to  do  right,  but  also  the  power.  God  is 
the  mighty  worker,  and  there  is  nothing  too  hard 
for  him.  A  perfect  partnership  with  him  solves  the 
question  of  spiritual  conquest  and  spiritual  attain- 
ment. Paul  says,  "God  is  able  to  make  all  grace 
abound  toward  you;  so  that  ye,  always  having  all 
sufficiency  in  all  things  may  abound  to  every  good 
work."     (H.  Corinthians  9:8.) 

Let  every  timid,  trembling  soul  anchor  to  this 
immovable  rock,  "God  is  able."  He  keeps  the 
world  moving,  the  sun  shining,  the  storms  obedient 
to  his  power,  so  that  nothing  occurs  in  the  heaven 
above  or  on  the  earth  beneath  but  is  in  har- 
mony with  his  sovereign  will.  Surely,  then,  he  can 
work  his  gracious  purposes  in  the  narrow  limits  of 
a  poor,  trusting  soul. 

Note  the  wonderful  sweep  of  this  power 
in  its  gracious  proAasions  for  showering  all  kinds 
of  blessings  upon  his  Church.  "All  grace,"  "al- 
ways,"   "all    sufficiency,"    "in    all    things,"    "may 

240 


Christ  as  the  Constructive  and  Expulsive  Power 

abound  to  every  good  work."  Here  are  four  "alls" 
and  two  "abounds,"  and  all  guaranteed  by  the  divine 
ability.  Grace  first  abounds — goes  over  all  bar- 
riers— to  the  individual,  and  then  is  to  abound, 
through  him  to  others.  Is  there  any  room  here  for 
sin  or  excuse  for  a  famishing  heart?  Can  there  be 
any  plea  of  want  of  ability  for  right  living,  and 
for  meeting  divine  requirements  when  infinite  power 
is  pledged  to  supply  every  need?  Who  can  excuse 
himself  for  failure  in  the  face  of  such  a  promise. 
Reader,  can  you?    Stop  and  think. 

Christ  is  sin's  sure  destruction.  Home  him  in 
the  heart,  and  give  him  full  control,  and  sin  can 
never  enter.  Sin  is  a  foreign  element  in  such  a 
life,  and  can  never  be  homed  in  the  divine  will 
and  nature.  While  we  may  not  be  sinless  as 
Christ,  we  can  nevertheless  be  freed  from  its  being 
and  power.  With  "sin  blotted  out,"  and  we  a  "new 
creation"  in  Christ  Jesus,  there  is  a  new  law  of 
gravitation  in  force,  and  the  life  is  now  being  lifted 
to  the  plane  of  the  supernatural,  the  divine.  While 
our  bodies  may  still  ally  us  to  the  earthly  sphere, 
our  spiritual  citizenship  is  in  heaven,  and  it  now 
becomes  our  true  environment.  "The  law  of  sin 
and  death"  has  lost  its  tendency  in  the  life,  and 
"the  law  of  the  spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus"  is 
ever  lifting  the  soul  out  of  the  natural  into  the 
supernatural.  Joseph  went  down  into  Egypt,  but 
he  rose  above  Eg}^pt.  Daniel  did  not  have  to  eat 
the  king's  meat  or  drink  of  his  wine.  While  we  live 
in  the  world  we  may  be  not  of  the  world.  Christ 
was  not  of  the  world  though  living  in  it.  Jesus 
lived  the  separated  life,  and  so  must  his  disciples 

^1 


The  Exalted  Life 

if  they  would  have  him  live  in  and  with  them.  He 
is  the  same  Jesus  that  he  was  when  on  earth,  and 
is  still  inviting  his  people  to  come  aside  with  him 
and  rest. 


242 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

The  Significance  of  the  Cross  in  the 
Life  of  the  Believer. 

We  now  come  to  one  of  the  most  tragic,  mys- 
terious, tender,  and  yet  significant  chapters  in  the 
whole  scheme  and  history  of  human  redemption — 
the  cross  of  Christ. 

Around  this  cross  the  bloodiest  battles  have  been 
fought;  some  religious  polemics  have  wielded  the 
keenest  and  sliarpest  swords  against  it,  and  in- 
fidelity has  poured  its  most  foul  and  scurrilous  epi- 
thets upon  it.  In  early  times  Roman  armies  and 
Grecian  philosophy  were  marshaled  and  arrayed 
against  it.  It  brooked  political  power  of  the  most 
collossal  character,  resisted  systems  of  paganism 
with  centuries  of  history  behind  them,  and  con- 
fronted the  coldest  and  deadliest  ecclesiasticism  of 
all  the  ages.  Religious  and  political  debauchery 
reigned.  The  whole  world,  with  individual  excep- 
tions, breathed  and  gave  out  the  foulest  moral  odor. 
All  flesh  had  corrupted  its  way  upon  the  earth,  and 
consequently  lived  in  a  cesspool  of  vice. 

In  the  midst  of  this  condition  of  things  the  cross 
came  into  view,  which  Paul  proclaimed,  to  both 
Jews  and  Gentiles,  as  being  both  "the  power  of 
God,  and  the  wisdom  of  God."  (I.  Corinthians  1 : 
22-24.)  To  the  one  it  was  a  stumbling-block,  and 
to  the  other  foolishness. 

243 


The  Exalted  Life 

Now  we  may  well  ask  whether  the  time  in  which 
we  live  is  wholly  different  from  that  now  distant 
day?  Have  we  not  in  a  measure  gone  back  to 
the  days  of  Greece  and  Rome  in  our  attitude  to- 
ward the  cross?  It  is  so  easy  in  these  days  of  en- 
lightenment, of  intellectual  and  physical  culture, 
to  substitute  for  the  cross  that  which  cannot  save. 
These  substitutes  are  claiming  and  capturing  the 
attention  and  interest  of  public  life  to  that  degree 
that  it  has  become  a  serious  question  with  devoted 
ministers  and  consecrated  laymen  how  to  keep  the 
interest  of  modern  church  life  on  a  par  with  worldly 
culture  and  worldy  amusements,  sometimes  even 
among  Christian  people.  Even  on  the  Sabbath, 
the  special  day  for  religious  teaching  and  the  pro- 
motion of  the  spiritual  life,  the  churches  are  often 
painfully  neglected  for  worldly  amusements  or  care- 
less ease.  With  many  it  is  not  merely  a  matter  of 
indifference  or  diversions,  but  of  contempt  and 
open  hostility,  characterizing  it  as  a  "religion  of 
the  shambles.''  Paul  encountered  such  a  class  in 
his  day,  over  which  his  heart  was  broken.  He  says, 
"For  many  walk,  of  whom  I  have  told  you  often, 
and  now  tell  you  even  weeping,  that  they  are  the 
enemies  of  the  cross  of  Christ."      (Philippians  3: 

18.) 

There  is  much  preaching  these  days — splendid, 
earnest,  learned,  eloquent — about  Christ,  even  of 
Christ  himself,  his  character  and  his  life,  but  not 
Christ  crucified.  It  was  Christ  crucified  and  risen 
that  transformed  Saul  into  Paul,  and  made  him 
the  greatest  preacher  the  world  has  ever  known. 
The  cross  was  always  his  rallying  cry  and  the  oc- 

244 


The  Significance  of  the  Cross  in  the  Life 

casion  of  his  glorying.  His  attitude  toward  the 
cross  decided  the  character  of  his  life  and  his  re- 
ligion. 

How  any  man,  in  view  of  what  the  cross  stands 
for  in  human  redemption,  can  be  indifferent  to,  or 
an  enemy  of  it  is  a  question  that  stands  without 
an  answer.  How  any  one  can  cherish  a  hope  of 
final  salvation  and  then  discredit  the  cross  and  live 
a  life  and  pursue  a  course  of  conduct  that  arrays 
him  aganist  the  only  hope  of  deliverance  from  sin 
is  a  mystery  awaiting  solution. 

Christ  crucified  stands  for  Christianity ;  it  is 
its  very  soul  and  life.  How  flagrant  this  feeling  of 
enmity  must  be  when  it  is  against  the  very  instru- 
ment and  procuring  cause  of  man's  salvation ! 
Without  the  cross  there  is  no  hope  of  salvation. 
Everything  centers  here ;  this  is  the  rock  on  which 
all  hope  of  future  blessedness  is  built.  It  is  the 
one  message  of  power  in  all  true  evangelism,  and 
has  been  the  rallying  cry  of  every  living  Church 
through  all  the  ages.  Christ  crucified  was  the  theme 
of  the  first  preacher  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  after 
the  Holy  Spirit  had  fallen  on  the  Church,  resulting 
in  about  three  thousand  souls  being  added  to  the 
number  of  believers.  It  was  Calvary  that  opened 
the  way  for  the  descent  of  the  Spirit,  without  which 
no  Church  can  be  living  and  efficient.  The  cross 
must  precede  life  and  power.  On  this  line  all  great 
awakening  and  all  genuine  revivals  come.  The  cry, 
"Back  to  Calvar}M"  ought  to  ring  out  from  every 
church  in  all  lands. 

It  is  the  cross,  not  scholastic  training,  not  highest 
civilization,   not   national   reformations,   not   ances- 

245 


The  Exalted  Life 

tral  religions,  that  is  to  save  the  world.  It  is  the 
source  of  individual  triumph  over  sin,  and  makes 
for  man's  highest  glory  in  this  and  in  the  world  to 
come.  Paul  wanted  nothing  else  in  which  to  glory. 
(Galatians  6:  14.) 

The  cross  holds  a  significant  place  in  the  world's 
liistory,  both  ancient  and  modern.  It  was  the  gib- 
bet of  the  ancients,  and  the  symbol  of  religious 
conquest.  It  is  not  an  invention  of  modern  times; 
for  in  a  sense  it  is  coeval  with  time's  earliest  morn- 
ing ;  for  Christ,  as  a  Lamb,  was  virtually  slain  from 
the  foundation  of  the  world.     (Revelation  13:  8.) 

A  writer  says,  ''The  cross  has  always  had  a  mys- 
terious significance.  We  are  told  that  the  cliff- 
dwellers  of  southern  Colorado  display  the  constant 
use  of  the  cross  in  their  constructions.  When  the 
Spaniards  came  to  Peru  and  Mexico  they  found  the 
inhabitants  reverencing  the  cross,  and  claiming  that 
they  received  it  from  an  early  civilization.  In  an- 
cient India,  Phoenecia,  Babylon,  and  Egypt,  the 
cross  was  honored  whole  millenniums  before  Christ 
came." 

As  an  emblem  the  cross  has  always  had  a  strangle 
and  sacred  significance.  While  it  is  the  symbol  of 
death,  it  is  also  the  sign  and  source  of  life  and  se- 
curity. It  was  doubtless  the  sign  of  the  cross 
on  the  forehead  of  the  pious  inhabitants  of  Jeru- 
salem that  saved  them  in  the  time  of  the  great 
slaughter  (Ezekiel  9:4).  It  is  said  that  the  Jews 
in  Egypt  roasted  the  Paschal  lamb  on  a  cross-shaped 
instrument,  and  that  the  blood  on  the  doorposts 
and  lintels  of  the  houses  outlined  a  cross.  This 
being  true  it  is  easy  to  see  how,  through  all  the 

246 


The  Significance  of  the  Cross  in  the  Life 

past  and  among  the  various  peoples  and  races, 
the  cross  has  stood  as  a  most  significant  symbol 
of  redemption. 

There  are  two  phases  in  which  the  cross  must  be 
viewed.  In  the  one  phase  it  is  very  hideous  and 
repulsive,  and  most  shocking  to  human  sensibilities. 
This  found  its  largest  and  fullest  expression  in  the 
crucifixion  of  Christ.  There  is  nothing  like  it  in 
all  history.  He  crossed  the  river  of  the  nether 
world  and  passed  through  the  awful  shades  of  that 
Stygian  night  in  which  demons  revel  and  rage.  The 
most  appalling  gloom  that  fell  was  not  the  vanish- 
ing of  the  mid-day  sun,  but  the  momentary  hiding 
of  his  Father's  face.  Here  the  law  had  its  full 
force.  There  was  no  pity,  no  mercy,  no  deliverance. 
The  sin  of  all  the  ages  condensed  upon  his  soul, 
and  he  paid  the  awful  penalty.  "He  tasted  death 
for  every  man."  This  was  very  hell  itself.  He  is 
dead!  His  face  hangs  on  his  bosom  in  grave 
stillness.  The  very  heavens  are  fairly  startled  by 
the  sight.  The  earth  is  in  a  convulsion,  and  the 
dead  are  appalled  in  their  graves  and  start  into  life 
again.  The  very  bowels  of  the  earth  were  rent  with 
pain,  and  the  whole  solar  system  covered  its  face 
with  the  mantle  of  mourning.  That  same  system 
of  which  man  was  a  part  in  his  creation,  and  that 
suffered  as  the  result  of  his  sin,  now  goes  into 
awful  throes  of  sympathetic  agony  when  the  whole 
load  of  sin  and  guilt  is  laid  on  the  One  that  came 
to  recover  man  from  his  ruin. 

Creation  itself  groaned  and  travailed  in  pain  at 
this  awful  scene.  Now,  why  was  all  this?  It  was 
for  and  because  of  man's  sin.     Paul  says,  "For  I 

247 


The  Exalted  Life 

delivered  first  of  all  that  which  also  I  received, 
how  that  Christ  died  for  our  sins  according  to  the 
scriptures."  (I.  Corinthians  15:3.)  Science  does 
not  need  the  cross  because  it  denies  the  existence  of 
sin.  The  denial  of  sin  is  the  denial  of  the  cross 
which  is  sin's  only  cure.  Nothing  can  conquer 
sin  and  what  it  bought,  which  is  physical,  spiritual, 
and  eternal,  but  the  cross.  Was  the  cross  cruel, 
shameful,  odious?  It  could  not  be  otherwise  as 
sin's  conqueror,  standing  as  it  does  for  the  deceit- 
fulness  and  heinousness  of  sin.  It  is  the  revela- 
tion of  the  meaning  of  sin ;  it  is  the  divine  definition 
of  sin.  Any  one  looking  at  that  cross  can  see 
the  awfulness  of  sin ;  what  it  cost  to  save  man  from 
it.  But  while  its  cruelty  makes  one  shudder,  it 
is  also  radiant  with  the  glorious  light  of  grace 
and  hope.  Shameful  cross !  Yes,  but  at  its  foot,  the 
guilty,  sin-polluted,  sin-paralyzed  soul  finds  redemp- 
tion and  the  beginning  of  a  new  life. 

In  view  of  what  sin  has  done,  and  what  recovery 
from  it  has  cost  in  tears,  sweat,  and  blood,  how  can 
it  ever  be  inviting  to,  and  loved  by  a  human 
soul?  It  took  the  life  of  our  best  friend,  and  by 
the  most  cruel  and  barbarous  method.  Could  the 
wife  of  President  McKinley  take  the  murderer  of 
her  husband  into  her  home  and  extend  to  him  all 
the  amenities  belonging  to  social  and  kindred  life? 
Could  the  children  of  a  loving  mother  take  the 
man  that  brutally  outraged  and  murdered  that 
mother  into  their  affections  and  fellowship,  and 
treat  him  as  a  friend?  The  very  thought  is  per- 
fectly abhorrent. 

248 


The  Significance  of  the  Cross  in  the  Life 

Plow  much  more  abhorrent  is  sin  as  seen  in 
the  light  of  the  cross.  Think  of  the  awful  havoc 
sin  has  wrought  in  the  world !  It  has  been  the 
cause  of  broken  hearts,  revolting  sicknesses,  flow- 
ing tears,  cruel  wars,  and  bloodshed,  and  devastating 
floods  and  famines.  It  has  opened  the  door  to 
every  saloon,  public  house,  brothel,  and  gambling 
den  that  is  corrupting  and  ruining  millions  of 
men  and  women  to-day.  Sin's  entrance  brought 
death  with  all  its  melancholy.  It  has  dug  every 
grave,  made  every  coflin,  sung  every  dirge,  and 
started  every  hearse  on  its  dolorous  way.  The 
whole  world  is  groaning  under  the  v/eary,  crushing 
weight  of  sin,  and  yet  it  is  invited,  cherished,  and 
loved.  How  can  this  be?  Reader,  look  upon  a 
ruined  world,  look  upon  what  sin  has  done  to  you, 
and  then  look  away  to  the  tragedy  of  Calvary,  and 
answer. 

Sin  has  wrought  such  collossal  ruin  and  cost 
heaven  such  an  infinite  price,  that  it  would  seem 
utterly  impossible  for  a  human  heart  to  love  and 
home  it  within.  Peter  writes  of  its  cost  when  he 
says,  "For  as  much  as  ye  know  that  ye  were  not 
redeemed  with  corruptible  things,  as  silver  and  gold ; 
but  with  the  precious  blood  of  Christ,  as  a  lamb 
without  blemish  and  without  spot."  (I.  Peter  1  : 
18,  19.) 

What  an  appeal  this  cross  presents  for  a  conse- 
crated and  holy  life !  A  young  lady  In  our  greatest 
city  stood  gazing,  as  the  story  goes,  on  Tintoretto's 
picture  of  the  crucifixion.  While  thus  looking,  she 
finally  burst  into  tears  saying,  "If  he  suffered 
all  that  for  me,  I  want  to  live  for  him." 

249 


The  Exalted  Life 

Here  at  the  cross  we  have  the  end  of  sin.  "The 
wages  of  sin  is  death."  (Romans  6:23.)  Christ 
paid  it.  "He  by  the  grace  of  God  tasted  death  for 
every  man."  Dr.  Denny  says  in  his  book  entitled 
"The  Death  of  Christ" :  "He  who  came  to  bear 
our  sin  must  also  die  our  death.  Death  is  the 
word  that  sums  up  the  whole  liability  of  man  in 
relation  to  sin,  and  therefore  when  Christ  came 
to  give  himself  for  our  sins,  he  did  it  by  dying." 
Then  Jesus  died  the  sinner's  death.  He  met  death 
and  hell  with  all  their  agencies  and  powers  of 
evil.  He  trod  the  wine-press  alone;  and  of  the 
people  there  were  none  with  him. 

We  have  considered  this  darker  side  of  the  cross 
to  illustrate  the  awfulness  of  sin — what  sin  is  and 
what  sin  means — for  which  it  stands  as  the  expo- 
nent and  the  penalty.  Law  and  sin  end  at  the  cross ; 
grace  and  righteousness  begin  there.  Where  the 
one  ends  the  other  begins.  For  Christ  the  cross 
meant  all  that  sin,  law,  death,  and  eternal  ruin 
mean;  for  the  believer  it  means  grace,  holiness, 
life,  unspeakable  and  eternal  blessedness.  The  lan- 
guage of  the  cross,  as  a  means  of  recovery  from 
sin,  is  all  that  God's  love  stands  for,  all  that  free- 
dom from  sin  means,  and  all  that  glory  that  Paul 
says,  "eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  neither 
have  entered  into  the  heart  of  man,  the  things  which 
God  hath  prepared  for  them  that  love  him."  The 
cross  is  the  open  door  to,  and  the  pledge  of  the 
realization  of  these  hidden  and  prepared  things. 

This  brings  us  now  to  the  bright  side  of  the 
cross,  what  it  means  to  the  one  that  accepts  it  as 
his  only  plea  and  hope.    It  is  the  only  way  back  to 

250 


The  Significance  of  the  Cross  in  the  Life 

God's  favor  and  paternal  love.  Paul  says  that 
"God  was  in  Christ  reconciling  the  world  unto 
himself."  (II.  Corinthians  5:19.)  ''Without  the 
shedding  of  blood  there  is  no  remission."  (Hebrew 
9:22.)  He  is  the  sin  bearer.  "Who  his  own  self 
bare  our  sins  in  his  own  body  on  the  tree,  that  we, 
being  dead  to  sins,  should  live  unto  righteousness : 
by  whose  stripes  ye  were  healed."  (I.  Peter  2:24.) 
Now  if  Christ  bore  our  sins  substitutionally,  then 
all  that  receive  him  are  freed  from  sin.  It  is  the 
work  of  faith  to  lay  sin  where  God  laid  it,  on  Christ. 
"He  laid  on  him  the  iniquity  of  us  all."  He  bore  our 
sin  that  we  might  not  bear  them.  When  the 
claims  of  divine  justice  have  been  met,  there  God 
can  be  just  in  justifying  the  believer.  The  integ- 
rity of  God's  throne  has  been  fully  maintained  by 
the  transaction  on  Calvary. 


"Hear  the  voice  of  Jesus  say, 
Verily  thou  hast  nothing  to  pay, 
All  has  been  put  to  my  account, 
I  have  paid  the  full  amount. 

"Nothing  to  pay!     Yes,   nothing  to  pay, 
Jesus  has  cleared  all  the  debt  away, 
Blotted  it  out  with  his  bleeding  hand. 
Free  and  forgiven  and  loved  you  stand." 

In  the  light  of  the  finished  work  on  Calvary 
how  strikingly  appropriate  and  significant  the  last 
words  heard  from  the  cross,  "It  is  finished."  If 
finished,  what  is  there  left  for  us  to  do  but  to 
accept  what  Christ  completed  and  so  announced? 
"It  is  finished."    "What  a  wonderful  Savior!" 

Now,  some  one  may  be  ready  to  say  that  as  a 
theory  this  is  very  fine;  but  how  far  is  it  true  and 

251 


The  Exalted  Life 

available  in  experience,  in  actual  life?  To  this 
important  question  let  us  give  careful  and  prayerful 
consideration. 

Here  at  the  cross  man's  lapsed  powers  are  re- 
stored. It  is  man's  recovery  from  physical  and 
moral  ruin.  The  cry  of  the  soul,  in  its  deepest 
sense,  is  for  deliverance  from  sin  and  death.  The 
cross  is  the  answer  to  this  cry.  To  explain  the 
mystery  of  the  atonement  is  impossible;  but  to 
accept  its  benefits  without  explanation  is  possible. 
We  cannot  explain  the  divine  existence,  but  we 
can  and  must  believe  in  it.  Not  only  is  God  him- 
self incomprehensible  to  finite  wisdom,  but  every- 
thing that  he  does.  The  flowers  in  the  garden,  the 
fruits  in  the  fields,  and  the  sands  on  the  seashore, 
are  inexplicable.  Scientists  have  carried  us  beyond 
the  minutest  visible  particle  to  the  molecule,  from 
the  molecule  to  the  atom,  and  from  the  atom  to  the 
electron,  or  the  electrum,  whatever  that  may  mean. 
Here  we  are  in  the  depths  of  the  unseen.  As  a  cer- 
tain writer  has  said :  "Who  can  comprehend  how 
three  hundred  millions  of  atoms  can  lie  in  a  row, 
side  by  side,  within  the  length  of  an  inch?  Is  this 
far  enough  into  the  unseen  ?  But  now  we  are  taught 
that  even  this  atom  itself  is  invisible,  that  in  it 
are  found  electrons  which  are  a  thousand  million 
times  smaller  than  the  atom.  Now,  can  any  one 
tell  us  where  we  are  at?  Can  you  say,  I  believe  in 
science  because  I  can  understand  it?  The  fact  is, 
no  human  theory  can  measure  the  mighty  things  of 
God." 

In  the  face  of  these  mysteries  can  any  one  ex- 
cuse himself  from  the  obligation  of  accepting  the 

252 


The  Significance  of  the  Cross  in  the  Life 

scriptural  facts  about  sin  and  salvation  on  the 
grounds  of  mystery?  Here  are  facts  that  cannot 
be  questioned,  for  they  have  been  demonstrated 
in  millions  of  lives.  The  proof  is  found  in  what 
it  has  done  and  is  doing.  It  is  changing  lives,  com- 
munities, and  nations.  It  iis  not  a  power  that  works 
outside  the  individual  and  that  leaves  him  un- 
changed; but  a  power  that  works  within  and  trans- 
forms the  life.  It  is  a  regenerative  principle,  turn- 
ing sinners  into  saints.  It  turns  the  corrupt  and 
sinful  nature  of  man  into  pureness,  and  puts  Christ 
into  him  as  the  ruling  passion  and  power  of  his 
life.  And,  strange  and  unreasonable  as  it  may 
seem,  all  this  is  done  by  dying.  Who  would  ever 
have  thought  of  such  a  method?  Here  it  is,  "And 
I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will  draw  all 
men  unto  me." 

Mystery!  you  say.  Yes,  but  millions  have  been 
marshaled  under  this  name,  and  millions  are  to-day 
marching  under  the  banner  of  blood  and  shouting, 
"Thanks  be  unto  God  that  giveth  us  the  victory." 
When  will  the  Church  grow  tired  of  singing,  "All 
hail  the  power  of  Jesus'  name,"  "Rock  of  Ages, 
cleft  for  me,"  and  that  still  more  wonderful  hymn, 
"When  I  survey  the  wondrous  cross"? 

This  method  of  the  cross,  of  dying,  is  the  real 
method  of  living  when  applied  to  the  transforma- 
tion of  character.  Christ  had  to  die  for  sin  to 
make  the  way  of  deliverance  possible  to  the  sinner ; 
but  now  the  sinner  must  himself  die  to  sin  in  order 
to  escape  its  consequences,  and  thus  avail  himself 
of  this  provisional  deliverance  in  Christ. 

253 


The  Exalted  Life 

How  can  this  be?  There  is  only  one  way, 
and  that  way  is  the  cross,  "Life  for  life/*  The 
Savior  makes  this  very  clear  in  John  12 :  24,  25, 
which  is  first  applied  to  himself,  and  then  to  his 
followers.  He  calls  his  crucifixion  his  glorification 
saying,  "The  hour  is  come,  that  the  Son  of  man 
should  be  glorified."  After  using  the  bold  and 
striking  figures  found  in  this  chapter  the  evangelist 
says,  "This  he  said,  signifying  what  death  he  should 
die."  Christ's  earthly  existence  covered  an  exis- 
tence that  was  heavenly  and  divine.  This  had  to 
be  put  off  by  dying;  be  planted  in  the  field  of  re- 
demption in  order  to  be  the  basis  and  source  of 
future,  multiplied  existence.  He  was  the  single 
grain  when  planted,  but  to-day  five  hundred  mil- 
lion or  more  of  living  disciples  attest  the  truthful- 
ness and  multiplicity  of  that  one  life.  When  Christ 
went  to  the  cross,  his  true  disciples  could  have  been 
numbered  by  a  few  score.  To-day  he  is  fast  be- 
coming the  desire  of  all  nations. 

Take  the  familiar  figure,  a  single  grain  of  wheat. 
To  grow,  it  must  be  sown,  planted  in  the  groimd; 
but  in  growing,  it  must  lose  its  present  form,  pass 
under  the  law  of  decay,  of  death.  That  coarse, 
husky  casement  that  imprisons  the  germ  life  must 
disappear  in  order  to  future  productiveness.  In 
other  words,  it  must  die  in  order  to  live ;  must 
perpetuate  and  propagate  itself  through  destruc- 
tion. The  present  form  must  undergo  decay,  must 
perish  in  order  to  reappear  in  another  and  more 
glorious  form — the  blade,  the  stalk,  the  ear,  and  the 
full  corn  in  the  ear. 

254 


The  Significance  of  the  Cross  in  the  Life 

The  principle  laid  down,  illustrated,  and  applied 
by  the  use  of  this  figure  is  most  striking  and  illumi- 
nating. Christ's  death  was  his  real  and  larger  life, 
the  lower  life  being  supplanted  by  the  higher,  the 
earthly  by  the  heavenly,  the  human  by  the  divine. 
''Here  the  higher  form  of  life  comes  through  the 
utter  loss  and  destruction  of  the  lower,  and  all 
this  to  be  made  possible  and  available  of  repe- 
tition in  the  life  and  experience  of  every  believer. 
Life  for  life  was  what  the  law  demanded,  and  our 
Savior  paid  it.  He  went  into  the  grave  and  was 
numbered  among  the  dead.  Here  law  ended,  and  so 
far  was  triumphant.  But  like  the  grain  of  wheat, 
he  died  to  live  again.  Omnipotent  power  raised 
him  anew  from  the  dead,  and  thereby  made  him 
the  first  fruits  of  all  them  which  sleep  in  Jesus. 
On  this  risen  life  the  law  has  no  claim,  and  over 
this  life  it  can  have  no  rule.  It  is  a  new,  strange 
life,  and  now  belongs  to  a  wholly  different  realm, 
the  realm  of  grace.  The  law  stopped  at  death  and 
the  grave,  ending  in  hopeless  ruin.  Grace  began 
at  this  awful  crisis  by  breaking  down  the  bars  and 
gates  of  death  and  hell,  and  flooded  the  prison 
vaults  with  the  light  of  hope  and  immortality.  He 
rose  for  our  justification."  "It  is  God  that  justi- 
fieth.  Who  is  he  that  condemneth?"  "Who  shall 
lay  anything  to  the  charge  of  God's  elect?"  (Ro- 
mans 8:  33,  34.) 

Now  the  great,  practical,  and  all-important  ques- 
tion with  every  believer  and  follower  of  Christ 
is,  as  to  how  far  his  death  and  resurrection  may 
be  made  available  in  changing  the  sin-state  into  a 

255 


The  Exalted  Life 

State  of  justification,  and  the  sin-nature  into  one  of 
lioliness. 

This  question  should  be  studied  with  great  care 
and  with  deepest  concern  upon  the  part  of  every 
Christian.  To-day  the  whole  world  stands  agog 
at  the  experimental  demonstrations  now  being  made 
in  this  country  by  Dr.  F.  F.  Friedmann  for  the  cure 
of  tuberculosis.  Thousands  of  patients  are  await- 
ing results,  and  hundred  are  obtrusively  crowding 
around  him  for  immediate  relief.  To  delay,  with 
such  an  immediate  end  pending,  is  most  serious  to 
the  victim  of  such  a  terrible  disease.  Immediate 
help  is  the  cry. 

If  this  prospective  remedy  is  arousing  such  a 
world-wide  interest  and  kindling  hope  in  so  many 
hearts,  how  much  more  should  sin's  cure,  offered 
so  freely  in  Christ  Jesus,  challenge  the  deepest 
interest  upon  the  part  of  every  one  that  wants  to 
escape  its  consequences. 

There  is  but  one  cure  for  sin,  and  that  is  Cal- 
vary. "Christ  suffered  for  us,"  "was  made  sin 
for  us,"  "was  wounded,"  "bruised,"  "chastened  for 
us,"  "was  stricken  for  us,"  "bore  our  sins,"  "died 
for  us,"  "is  the  propitiation  for  our  sins,"  "made 
a  curse,"  "made  a  sacrifice  for  us,"  "given  as  a 
ransom  for  us,"  "tasted  death  for  every  man," 
and  all  that  we  "might  be  healed,"  be  "washed  from 
our  sins  in  his  own  blood,"  and  "put  away  sin  by 
the  sacrifice  of  himself." 

In  the  light  of  these  Scriptures  is  there  any- 
thing more  to  be  done  to  cancel  the  debt?  How 
glorious  the  thought  that  the  debt  made  by  another, 
the   human    father   of   the   race,   that   unavoidably 

256 


The  Sigfnificance  of  the  Cross  in  the  Life 

fell  upon  his  offspring,  was  all  wiped  out,  blotted 
from  the  book  of  the  warden  of  justice,  so  that 
freedom  from  all  guiltless  sin  now  obtains.  Here 
ancestral  sin  is  taken  care  of  by  the  atonement, 
and  the  birth  from  God,  from  above,  starts  the 
very  opposite  life  from  that  of  the  birth  from  Adam, 
and  so  issues  in  a  life  kindred  to  Christ,  which  is 
"holy,  harmless,  and  separate  from  sinners." 

The  question  of  the  atonement  settles  the  ques- 
tion of  individual  deliverance  from  sin,  and  obtain- 
ment,  and  attainment  in  holiness.  One  thing  we  may 
be  sure  of,  and  that  is  that  we  cannot  trifle  with 
the  atonement  It  is  too  serious  to  trifle  with.  It 
was  not  made  just  to  cover  sin  and  to  excuse  sin. 
Grace  is  not  furnished  for  sin's  multiplication  or 
perpetuity,  but  for  deliverance  from  it.  (Romans 
6:1,  2.) 

The  atonement  represents  our  death-state  to  sin ; 
(verse  three)  put  "into  his  death."  "Buried  with 
him  into  death;  risen  in  the  likeness  of  his  resur- 
rection to  a  new  life"  (verses  four  and  five).  This 
death  and  quickening  to  a  new  life,  our  state,  ju- 
dicially, under  the  atonement  (verses  six,  seven, 
and  eight). 

If  we  would  honor  the  atonement,  what 
Christ  has  done  for  us,  we  must  credit  ourselves, 
legally,  by  faith,  with  its  full  benefit.  (This  seen 
in  verses  eleven,  twelve,  and  thirteen.)  By  this  reck- 
oning one  believer  transfers  himself  from  the  realm 
of  law  to  the  realm  of  grace,  and  henceforth  is 
dealt  with  on  entirely  different  grounds  from  what 
he  was  before.  Law  has  now  lost  its  control 
through  death,  and  life  in  Christ  has  the  ascendant 

257 


The  Exalted  Life 

rule.  The  curse  of  sin  is  canceled  and  the  guilty 
declared  innocent.  "He  was  delivered  for  our 
offences  and  raised  again  for  our  justification." 

Not  only  is  the  guilt  of  sin  removed,  but  the 
dominion  of  sin  broken  by  our  coming  into  the 
power  of  the  risen  Hfe  of  Christ.  Hear  Paul's  tri- 
umphant exclamation :  "Much  more  then,  being  now 
justified  by  his  blood,  we  shall  be  saved  from  wrath 
through  him.  For  if  while  we  were  enemies,  we 
were  reconciled  to  God  by  the  death  of  his  Son, 
much  more,  being  reconciled,  we  shall  be  saved  by 
his  life."     (Romans  5:9,  10.) 

Here  reconciliation  is  a  guarantee  of  salvation. 
Past  guilt  being  expiated  clears  the  way  for  the 
perfecting  of  the  work  of  grace  in  the  heart  and 
life  of  the  believer.  Hear  Paul  on  this  enlarge- 
ment :  "Knowing  this,  that  our  old  man  is  crucified 
with  him,  that  the  body  of  sin  might  be  destroyed, 
that  henceforth  we  should  not  serve  sin.  For  he 
that  is  dead  is  freed  from  sin."     (Romans  6:6,  7.) 

Can  anything  be  plainer  and  more  direct  on  the 
line  of  deliverance  from  sin  than  these  words  of 
the  apostle  ?  Where'  is  the  "old  man  when  cruci- 
fied," and  "the  body  of  sin,"  sin's  stronghold,  when 
"destroyed"?  Shall  we  make  Christ's  death  a 
verity,  a  reality,  and  then  when  applied  to  man 
morally  and  spiritually,  only  a  delusion,  all  unreal? 
This  would  be  to  make  the  whole  scheme  of  salva- 
tion a  fiction,  the  Bible  a  fable,  and  Christ  an  im- 
postor. This  might  well  be  the  attitude  of  atheism, 
but  can  it  be  of  Christian  theism? 

Christ's  death,  resurrection,  and  ascension  have 
in    a    significant    sense    become    the    standard    of 

258 


The  Significance  of  the  Cross  in  the  Life 

achievement  for  his  followers.  Paul,  speaking  on 
Christ's  being  seated  "in  the  heavenlies,"  says,  **Of 
the  same  power  that  it  hath  raised  us  up  together 
and  made  us  sit  together  in  the  heavenlies  with 
Christ  Jesus."  In  the  light  of  this  teaching  is  there 
anything  too  hard  for  God  to  do  or  faith  to 
achieve? 

Whatever  Christ  was  in  his  earthly  relation  and 
life,  the  Christ  of  the  Christian's  faith  is  the  now 
risen  and  highly  exalted  Christ.  He  is  not  now 
known  after  the  flesh  but  after  the  spirit.  The 
apostle  says :  "Yea,  though  I  have  known  Christ  after 
the  flesh,  yet  now  henceforth  know  I  him  no  more. 
Therefore  if  any  man  be  in  Christ  he  is  a  new 
creation.  Old  things  have  passed  away,  behold,  all 
things  have  become  new."  Now  as  Christ  is,  so 
are  we.  "As  is  the  heavenly  so  also  are  they  that 
are  heavenly." 

Is  not  this  a  highly  exalted  life  to  which  Christ 
has  opened  the  way?  He  himself  is  there.  It  is 
a  new  realm  in  which  to  live.  Paul  says  that  "we 
are  come  unto  the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  to  an  in- 
numerable company  of  angels,  to  the  general  assem- 
bly and  church  of  the  first-born,  which  are  writ- 
ten in  heaven,  and  to  God  the  judge  of  all,  and  to 
the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect." 

What  a  radiant  life  to  live !  A  new  and  divine  per- 
sonality has  come  down  from  heaven  to  earth,  and 
is  now  incarnate  in  men  and  women,  and  thereby 
lifting  their  life  from  the  earthly  sphere  to  the 
heavenly.  Christ  is  now  to  be  as  real  to  the  spirit- 
ual consciousness  of  his  disciples  as  he  was  to  their 
physical  senses  when  he  was  living  with  them  on 

259 


The  Exalted  Life 

earth.  Then  they  lived  with  him  on  the  earthly 
plane,  but  now  they  are  so  one  with  him  that  they 
are  to  repeat,  relive,  all  that  is  imitable  in  his  life 
and  walk  only  on  this  higher  plane  which  Paul 
describes  in  the  words,  "Henceforth  I  live,  yet  not 
I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me,  and  the  life  that  I  now 
live  in  the  flesh,  I  live  by  the  faith  of  the  son  of 
God,  who  loved  me  and  gave  himself  for  me." 

Surely  this  must  be  an  all-conquering  and  a  con- 
tinuously triumphant  life.  With  such  a  relation- 
ship, when  can  there  be  any  room  for  sin,  any  excuse 
for  weakness,  failure,  and  defeat?  Hear  the  tri- 
umphant shout  of  one  who  knew  what  this  identity 
with  Christ  meant:  "I  can  do  all  things  through 
Christ  who  strengtheneth  me."  "Thanks  be  unto 
God  who  always  causeth  us  to  triumph  in  Christ 
Jesus."  Surely  sin  had  no  part  in  Christ's  life, 
and  how  can  it  in  ours  if  he  is  our  life  and  rules 
in  our  life?  While  we  may  not  be  sinless  as  he 
was,  we  may  nevertheless  be  freed  by  him  from  the 
power  of  sin,  from  sin's  reign  in  our  lives.  If  not, 
then  what  does  the  new  birth,  the  new  start  in  life 
mean?  What  does  the  prayer,  "Create  in  me  a 
clean  heart,  O  God,"  mean  if  not  a  creation  like 
the  first?  Man  originally  was  not  created  in  sin, 
and  it  was  such  a  work  as  this  that  David  wanted 
done  in  him.  He  wanted  a  heart  unqualifiedly 
new. 

The  new,  divine  nature  in  man  never  sins.  If 
sin  is  committed  it  must  come  from  some  other 
source.  We  can  never  make  "Christ  the  minister 
of  sin."  So  when  the  nature  of  Christ  comes 
into  the  believer,   and  the  life  lived   is  after  that 

260 


The  Significance  of  the  Cross  in  the  Life 

nature,  sin  is  no  longer  the  practice  of  that  life. 
Here  the  "cannot  sin"  of  St.  John  becomes  strik- 
ingly true.  (I.  John  3:9.)  The  "seed,"  the  new 
life,  abiding  in  the  heart,  which  has  been  created 
"clean,"  cannot  give  out  into  the  life  what  is  not 
now  in  it.  This  can  no  more  be  true  than  that  a 
fountain  can  send  forth  both  salt  and  sweet  water 
at  the  same  time.  A  fig  tree  cannot  bear  olives,  or 
a  vine  figs.  This  new  law  in  grace  is  as  unerring 
as  this  law  in  nature.  Like  produces  like.  Flesh 
and  spirit  each  (as  Jesus  taught  Nicodemus)  pro- 
ducing its  kind.  Just  what  one  sows,  that  is 
what  he  will  reap. 

Now,  in  closing  this  chapter,  we  confront  a  seri- 
ous question,  and  one  that  presses  hard  for  a  clear 
and  assuring  answer.  That  is,  How  can  one  live 
such  a  life  as  that  described  above  and  which 
is  so  often  affirmed  in  the  Scriptures  as  being 
the  only  life  that  is  pleasing  to  God  here,  and  that 
has  the  promise  of  eternal  life  hereafter?  To  this 
answer  let  us  devote  the  most  careful  and  prayer- 
ful consideration.  (1)  The  past  sins  of  the  believer 
are  all  "blotted  out,"  and  he  is  freed  from  the  moral 
consequences  of  his  sins,  as  the  word  "forgiveness" 
signifies.  (2)  This  forgiveness  does  not  always 
avert  the  evil  consequent  on  the  violation  of  God's 
laws  in  natural  or  physical  life.  One  may  suffer 
decline  in  health  and  die  a  premature  death,  though 
forgiven  and  freed  from  sin.  (3)  The  claims  of 
justice  were  met  at  Calvary,  and  that  is  where 
mercy  stands  to  welcome  the  sinner.  Here  every 
question  is  answered  and  every  promise  fulfilled. 
Can  Christ  be  a  Savior  if  he  does  not  save?     Are 

261 


The  Exalted  Life 

God's  promises  trust-worthy  if  they  are  not  kept? 
In  the  Hght  of  the  cross  and  God's  integrity  can 
the  penitent,  beHeving  sinner,  however  vile,  be 
disowned  and  turned  away  condemned?  If  all  the 
sin  and  guilt  of  the  whole  of  humanity  through  all 
the  ages,  except  the  sin  against  the  Holy  Spirit,  were 
piled  on  one  single,  lone  sinner  would  it  be  too 
much  for  God's  love  and  Calvary's  cross  to  deal 
with  in  righteousness?  (Hebrews  7:25.)  (4) 
The  cross  covers  the  whole  realm  of  sin,  whether 
in  the  nature  or  in  the  life.  The  cross  opens  the 
way  for  the  new,  heavenly  beginning.  This  is  made 
very  clear  in  the  discourse  of  Jesus  to  Nicodemus, 
in  the  third  chapter  of  St.  John,  where  the  "lifting 
up  of  the  Son  of  man"  is  associated  with  regenera- 
tion, or  the  birth  from  above.  Here  the  new,  second 
birth  is  put  in  contrast  with  the  old,  first  birth,  the 
spiritual  against  the  fleshly,  regeneration  facing  in 
the  opposite  direction  from  degeneration,  the  birth 
from  God  in  antithesis  with  that  from  Adam.  Birth 
being  the  beginning,  the  origin  of  life,  always  im- 
plying parentage,  must  of  necessity  imply  ancestral 
vergency.  Hence  if  the  birth  from  Adam  means  a 
sinful,  a  corrupt  nature,  must  not  the  birth  from 
God  imply  the  opposite,  a  nature  of  purity,  of  holi- 
ness? Is  not  the  one  birth  as  broad  as  the  other? 
The  one  from  above  as  broad  as  the  one  from  be- 
low? If  the  new  birth  implies  a  change  of  king- 
doms, and  citizenship  in  heaven,  then  it  must  mean 
a  wonderful  transformation  of  the  earthly  life 
into  that  of  the  heavenly. 

At    this    point    we    very    naturally    and    wisely 
confront  the  question  of  degrees  of  life,  and  the 

262 


The  Sigiiidcance  of  the  Cioss  in  the  Life 

maintenance  of  a  healthy,  continuous  growth  to- 
ward maturity,  a  ''perfect  man  in  Christ  Jesus." 
Here,  as  previously  stated  and  oft  repeated,  we  con- 
front the  all-decisive  battlefield.  In  the  natural 
world  all  life  has  a  struggle  for  existence.  This 
has  been  true  ever  since  the  wreck  in  Eden.  But 
even  this  struggle  is  not  without  its  advantages.  It 
often  lays  the  foundation  for  a  healthy  development. 
In  the  life  of  man  this  struggle  has  a  dual  effect; 
for  it  is  not  only  destructive,  but  it  is  also  con- 
structive. Everywhere  the  stronger  force  holds 
(he  sway.  In  the  conflict  for  character,  that  side 
wins  which  can  throw  into  the  scale  the  greatest 
moral  and  spiritual   force  in  the  conflict. 

Just  as  in  the  order  of  creation,  everything  going 
from  the  lower  to  the  higher,  from  the  inorganic 
to  the  organic;  so  here  man  is  ever  ascending,  if 
living  in  God's  order,  from  the  human  to  the  di- 
vine, the  imperfect  to  the  perfect.  The  Christ-life 
is  ever  an  inflowing  life,  and  is  gauged  upon  the 
part  of  the  believer  by  the  measure  of  his  intelli- 
gent surrender  to  Christ.  It  is  the  measure  of  his 
life  in  tis  that  determines  the  measure  of  our  life 
in  him.  The  fully  surrendered  life  is  the  normal 
condition  of  God's  sons.  Self-denial  and  cross- 
bearing  determine  how  fully  we  are  living  for 
Christ,  and  how  fully  his  life  is  our  life.  "For  me 
to  live  is  Christ." 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 
The  Divine  Method  of  Discipleship. 

Jesus  does  not  open  up  any  easy  road,  on  the 
human  side,  to  discipleship.  He  would  have  every 
one  of  his  followers  to  count  the  cost,  like  a  wise- 
master-builder,  before  beginning  the  life  that  is 
to  be  patterned  after  his  own.  Here  no  one  may, 
or  need  be  deceived.  There  is  no  flattery 
or  luring  charms  employed  to  beguile  or  ensnare 
unwary  feet,  and  yet  the  brightest  goal  that  ever 
charmed  the  human  heart  is  set  before  the  gaze  of 
human,  aspiring  eyes.  Paul  would  make  Jesus  the 
cynosure  of  all  eyes.  He  says,  "Looking  unto 
Jesus."     (Hebrews  12:2.) 

In  the  preceding  chapter,  Paul  is  calling  the  "mus- 
ter-roll of  the  ages,"  the  heroes  of  faith.  In  this 
twelfth  chapter  he  is  giving  the  incentives  to  ac- 
tion as  runners,  wrestlers,  and  fighters.  Here  the 
Church  in  the  new  dispensation  is  in  the  arena, 
in  the  contest;  the  ancients  are  in  the  amphitheater 
as  witnesses,  crowding  the  galleries  to  the  dense- 
ness  of  a  radiant  cloud.  They  are  both  spectators 
and  witnesses.  But  charming,  exciting,  and  en- 
trancing as  is  this  vision,  and  great  and  numerous 
as  is  the  throng  that  lines  the  race  course,  there 
is  another  sight  that  the  parting  clouds  reveal,  a 
divine  personage,  standing  clear  and  distinct  in  his 
personality,  whose  brightness  far  outshines  all  else, 
upon  whom  Paul  would  focus  all  eyes.     Here  the 

264 


The  Divine   Method   of   Discipleship 

obscuring  cloud  melts  away,  and  like  as  on  the 
Mount  of  Transfiguration,  only  one  form  appears, 
Jesus  the  Christ. 

There  is  much  being  said  these  days  about  the 
Church,  and  especially  ministers,  having  a  new, 
fresh  vision  of  Christ.  Certainly  a  very  essential 
thing,  for  Solomon  says,  ''Where  there  is  no  vision 
the  people  perish."  Without  this  new  and  constant- 
ly growing  conception  of  Christ  and  his  work,  things 
will  narrow  down  to  the  most  restricted  and 
straightened  boundaries.  It  will  be  ''my  fruits  and 
my  goods,"  instead  of,  "for  me  to  live  is  Christ." 
All  life  will  be  planned  on  this  narrow,  selfish 
plane  instead  of  being  planned  after  that  divine  or- 
der of  living  and  service  that  is  as  broad  as  the 
world  and  as  long  as  the  ages. 

The  great  object  of  looking  to  Christ,  and  hav- 
ing a  growing  conception  of  him  and  his  teaching, 
is  to  have  a  plan  for  living.  Life  without  a  plan 
means  wreckage  and  final  ruin.  It  is  like  a  ship 
at  sea  without  a  chart,  a  compass,  pilot,  or  a  des- 
tination. If  we  would  be  eagle-Christians  we  must 
lift  our  heads,  spread  the  wings  of  faith,  and  soar 
and  fly.  The  eagle's  flight  and  home  are  toward 
the  sun.  We  may  carry  our  heads  so  low  as  not 
to  see  the  sun,  though  shining  full-orbed. 

Looking  unto  Jesus  is  not  mere  furtive  glances 
at  him.  This  will  not  do.  To  be  the  pattern  of 
our  life,  he  must  be  our  habitual  contemplation. 
"We  all,  beholding  as  in  a  glass,  the  glory  of  the 
Lord,  are  changed  into  the  same  image,  from  glory 
to  glory,  even  as  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord."  (I. 
Corinthians  3:  18.) 

265 


The  Exalted  I^ife 

It  is  not  enough  to  simply  see  Jesus.  This  may 
be  done  involuntarily,  and  out  of  idle  curiosity;  but 
to  look  is  a  voluntary  act,  and  means  gazing  away 
and  off  from  other  things,  things  in  general,  to  see 
some  special  object.  So,  in  order  to  see  Jesus,  we 
must  shut  out  other  and  contrary  things  from  our 
gaze,  if  we  would  see  him  only.  The  vision  must 
be  shut  up  to  him  alone,  and  like  an  ardent  lover 
look  steadfastly  into  his  face.  Not  with  a  hasty 
languid  glance  of  a  couple  of  minutes  in  the  morn- 
ing, and  with  a  still  more  abbreviated,  drowsy 
gaze  at  night,  and  then  think  that  he  wall  reveal 
himself.  It  must  be  a  long,  fixed  gaze.  He  will 
not  think  it  rude  in  us  to  so  do.  He  has  commanded 
us  to  "look,"  and  for  so  doing  offers  the  reward 
of  eternal  life. 

Jesus  will  never  disdain  or  scorn  an  upturned 
face.  Looking  to  him  we  are  sure  of  the  prize. 
The  longer  we  gaze  at  him  the  thinner  the  clouds 
grow,  the  brighter  the  skies  become,  and  the  day 
finally  becomes  **as  one  of  the  days  of  the  Son  of 
man  upon  earth." 

This  looking  unto  Jesus  and  studying  his  life  is 
the  only  real  basis  of  true  discipleship.  This  leads 
us  more  specifically  to  this  divine  relationship  and 
life  which  we  wish  to  now  consider.  Jesus  laid 
down  the  principle  and  test  of  discipleship  in  the 
words,  "If  any  man  will  come  after  me,  let  him 
deny  himself,  and  take  up  his  cross  daily,  and  follow 
me."      (Luke  9:23.) 

He  had  just  given  utterance  to  the  words  that 
must  have  been  very  hard  for  his  disciples  to  hear. 
He  had  been  telling  them  of  his  rejection,  death,  and 

266 


The  Divine   Method  of  Discipleshlp 

resurrection.  He  told  them  that  he  was  going  to 
his  triumph  by  the  way  of  the  cross.  For  this 
Peter  rebuked  him.  He  then  turns  and  applies  this 
way  that  he  was  going,  as  the  test  of  Christian 
discipleship  in  all  ages.  He  tells  them  that  it  is 
the  saved  life  that  is  lost,  and  that  it  is  the  lost 
life  that  is  saved.  ''For  whosoever  will  save  his 
life  shall  lose  it:  but  whosoever  will  lose  his  life  for 
my  sake,  the  same  shall  save  it."     (Verse  24.) 

In  this  twenty-third  verse  we  have  a  summary  of 
the  essentials  of  Christian  character  and  life-re- 
nunciation of  self,  daily  cross-bearing,  and  follow- 
ing this  divine  leader.  While  these  requirements  are 
clearly  distinct  from  each  other,  yet  they  are  most 
closely  related  in  establishing  and  building  up  Chris- 
tian discipleship.  They  are  so  co-related  that  no 
one  of  these  precepts  can  be  considered  apart 
from  the  others  without  detraction  and  loss  from 
the  sum  total.  While  each  may  be  regarded  as  a 
pivot  and  test  of  discipleship,  yet  all  must  be  taken 
together  to  form  a  perfect  unit  in  the  life  founded 
upon,  and  modeled  after  the  life  of  Christ. 

The  first  in  the  order  of  this  trinity  of  require- 
ments is  that  of  self-denial.  ''Let  him  deny  him- 
self." This  is  the  first  and  all-inclusive  step  in 
the  life  of  grace.  This  being  true,  how  it  becomes 
every  one  that  wishes  to  become  a  disciple  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  to  consider  well  the  scope  and  meaning 
of  this  first  step.  Errors  at  beginnings  are  most 
fatal ;  often  resulting  in  doom. 

What  is  self-denial?  What  is  it  to  deny  self, 
in  the  sense  in  which  our  Lord  enjoins  it?  With- 
out a  clear  conception  of  it,  how  can  it  be  practiced 

267 


Th©  Exalted  Lifo 

in  harmony  with  the  divine  meaning?  Vague 
ideas  of  its  meaning  will  lead  to  gross  if  not  fatal 
errors  in  practice.  This  word  "self-denial"  covers 
a  wide  range  of  meaning,  and  represents  a  force, 
in  the  moral  realm,  that  is  all-determining  in  Chris- 
tian character  and  practice.  This  is  the  pivot  on 
which  future  usefulness  and  final  destiny  turn. 
"Sin,"  "self,"  and  "Satan"  are  words  that  well  de- 
scribe the  graded  descent  in  evil,  ending  in  eternal 
separation  from  God.  Self  stands  for  ruin;  Christ 
for  recovery  from  this  ruin ;  and  the  choice  must  be 
made  between  these  two.  Self  and  Christ  are  sug- 
gestive of  two  centers,  the  one  to  be  turned  from 
and  the  other  to  be  turned  to.  It  is  turning  one's 
self  away  from  one's  self;  the  rejecting  of  self  as 
the  desire  of  self.  Christ  says,  "If  you  would  turn 
toward  me,  you  must  turn  away  from  yourself;  if 
you  would  accept  me  you  must  renounce  yourself; 
if  you  would  live  for  me,  you  must  cease  to  live 
for  yourself." 

It  is  an  utter  abandonment  of  self.  This  does 
not  mean  the  conquest  of  self,  the  overcoming  of 
self,  involving  the  constant  battling  with  self;  but 
the  turning  away  from  self,  the  ceasing  to  live  for 
self,  the  practical  ignoring  of  self,  disavowing  any 
further  relationship  with  self;  an  avowal  that  the 
life  of  self  is  no  longer  claimant.  It  is  forgetting 
one's  self  because  of  some  absorbing  interest  out- 
side of  self. 

Much  of  what  passes  for  self-denial  is  nothing 
more  than  self-nursing  or  self-seeking.  Profes- 
sional athletes  may  become  very  abstemious  in 
personal  habits  in  order  to  win  in  some  contest.    So 

26S 


The  Divine   Method  of  Discipleship 

in  the  acquisition  of  wealth,  attainment  of  knowl- 
edge, or  the  pursuit  of  honor  and  fame,  great 
privations  may  be  endured  for  the  purpose  of  gain- 
ing the  enviable  goal. 

But  all  this,  in  the  highest  sense,  is  not  self- 
denial,  denying  self  to  self.  Self  is  still  the  center 
of  living  and  being.  Self  must  be  turned  away 
from  as  the  main  object  of  existence  if  Christ  is 
to  be  **all  and  in  all."  One  who  gives  first  place 
to  self,  to  his  own  interests,  either  material  or 
spiritual,  may  travel  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  and 
pinch  himself  in  the  sorest  way  by  self-privations, 
and  yet  in  the  truest  sense  be  living  only  for  him- 
self. 

As  a  certain  writer  has  well  said,  "Not  what  he 
does  nor  what  he  refuses  to  do,  but  the  aim  of 
his  life,  toward  self  or  away  from  self,  settles 
the  question  whether  or  not  that  man  lives  a  life 
of  true  self-denial." 

When  self  is  denied  there  will  be  no  parlying 
with  God  for  better  or  easier  places  of  service.  Not 
what  seems  the  best  and  highest  personal  interest, 
but  what  the  Master  desires  and  commands  will 
have  highest  thought  and  best  endeavor.  The  call 
may  lead  to  afflictions,  necessities,  to  distresses;  to 
prisons,  to  stripes  and  stonings;  to  journeyings  oft- 
en ;  to  perils  in  the  sea ;  to  perils  of  robbery ;  to 
perils  in  the  city;  to  perils  in  the  wilderness;  to 
perils  among  false  brethren;  to  travails  and  watch- 
ings ;  to  hunger  and  thirst  and  fastings ;  to  cold  and 
nakedness;  but  if  the  self-denial  is  complete  what 
does  it  matter  to  the  individual  only  so  he  is  where 
he  for  whom  he  lives  wants  him?     Whatever  the 

269 


The  Exalted  Life 

condition  and  the  circumstances  of  life,  with  all 
his  heart  he  can  say,  "I  have  learned,  in  whatsoever 
state  I  am,  therein  to  be  content.  I  know  how 
to  be  abased,  and  I  know  also  how  to  abound :  in 
everything  and  in  all  things  I  have  learned  the 
secret  both  to  be  filled  and  to  be  hungry,  both  to 
abound  and  to  be  in  want.  I  can  do  all  things  in 
him  that  strengtheneth  me."  True  self-denial  is 
living  out  of  and  away  from  self,  and  living  in  and 
being  homed  with  Christ  in  God. 

In  order  to  simplify  and  illustrate  this  life  of 
self-denial,  I  want  to  light  a  few  tapers  along  the 
way,  borrowed  from  practical  life.  The  first  is  that 
from  domestic  life,  the  relation  of  huband  and  wife. 
This  life  has  its  beginning-period,  like  as  in  the 
life  of  Jacob  and  Rachel.  It  often  begins  in  the 
most  fortuitous  way,  like  seeing  a  charming  and 
kindling  face,  or  hearing  some  things  that  fill 
the  heart  with  admiration,  and  begets  a  feeling  of 
unity  of  mind  and  heart.  Later,  on  more  intimate 
acquaintance,  there  springs  up  a  conscious  aiTection 
which  results  in  a  challenge  for  a  life-relation. 
Think  how  much  depends  on  this  challenge  and  its 
final  consummation  upon  the  part  of  the  one ;  it 
means  the  giving  up  a  home  around  which  gathers 
the  sweetest  of  memories,  and  leaving  kindred  that 
are  as  dear  as  life  itself,  to  enter  a  maternal  home 
that  is  crude  in  its  construction,  and  to  live  in  the 
most  sacred  relationship  with  one  that  only  a  few 
months  ago  was  an  alien  and  an  utter  stranger. 

Was  it  hard  to  do?  No;  it  was  the  delight  of 
Hfe;  and  yet  it  was  the  gift  of  one's  self,  of  one's 
life,    for    better,    for    worse,    for    wasting   or    for 

270 


The   Divine   Method  of  Discipleship 

bloom,  and  all  to  a  frail,  untried,  unknown  man. 
The  surrender  was  absolute,  and  yet  so  hazardous. 
How  often  disappointed  love  has  resulted  in  sui- 
cide because  of  not  being  permitted  or  able  to  make 
this  surrender  to  the  object  of  love. 

How  little  was  known  at  the  time  what  this  sur- 
render meant!  It  is  all  joyous  now,  and  the  path 
is  one  of  flowers  and  the  morning  sky  is  burnished 
with  gold ;  but  as  the  days  multiply  and  years  come, 
things  change.  Little  was  known  at  the  first  what 
it  meant  to  be  a  wife  or  a  husband.  By  and  by 
sickness  comes,  the  rose  fades  from  the  cheek, 
strength  declines,  and  a  helpless  invalid  has  taken 
the  place  of  a  once  hale  and  cheerful  wife.  Can 
the  husband  now  say  that  I  never  agreed  to  this? 
Can  he  throw  off  his  obligations  as  a  husband  and 
prove  untrue  to  his  marriage  vows  now  that  a 
change  has  come?  No,  he  agreed  to  all  back  yonder 
on  his  wedding  day.  li  he  understood  himself  he 
agreed  to  love  and  cherish  the  one  of  his  choice  until 
the  curtains  of  night  are  drawn  and  she  lays  down 
in  that  dreamless  sleep  which  we  call  death.  What 
a  surrender  to  make,  and  what  a  party  to  surrender 
to! 

Now,  if  all  this  can  be  done  on  the  human  plane, 
and  in  matters  of  such  great  contingency,  how 
much  easier  and  how  much  more  inviting  this  sur- 
render to  Jesus  ought  to  be  to  every  anxious,  needy 
soul!  The  relation  of  huband  and  wife  well  rep- 
resents the  relationship  between  Christ  and  his 
Church.  He  came  all  the  way  from  heaven  to  seek 
a  bride.  We  must  say  that  he  came  to  a  poor  world 
and   to  the  most   dissolute  characters  to   get  one. 

271 


The  Exalted  Life 

What  would  we  think  of  a  prince,  the  son  of  a  king 
and  entitled  to  a  throne  leaving  all  the  distinguished 
ladies  of  the  realm,  passing  them  all  by,  and  com- 
ing down  to  a  sin-sodden  Magdalene,  veiled  in 
her  sliame,  sitting  by  the  wayside,  and  making  love 
to  her  and  inviting  her  to  sit  with  him  on  the 
throne  as  queen  ?  Would  not  the  whole  kingdom  be 
smitten  with  horror,  and  cry  against  such  a  prosti- 
tution of  the  nation? 

How  infinitely  greater  was  the  condescension 
of  Jesus  when  he  came  down  from  the  glory  which 
he  had  with  the  Father  before  the  world  was,  and 
took  the  sinners  place  under  the  law,  and  suffered 
the  humiliation  and  death  that  was  due  to  him  in 
order  to  redeem  him?  Paul  puts  this  in  a  very 
forcible  way  when  he  says :  *'For  scarcely  for  a 
righteous  man  will  one  die :  yet  peradventure  for 
a  good  man  some  would  even  dare  to  die.-  But  God 
commendeth  his  love  toward  us,  in  that,  while  we 
were  yet  sinners,  Christ  died  for  us,"  (Romans 
5:7,  8.)  No  added  proof  of  love  is  needed  here. 
The  giving  of  life  for  an  enemy  leaves  no  doubt 
as  to  the  love  of  the  giver. 

Of  all  the  wooers  that  ever  appealed  to  the 
human  heart,  Jesus  is  the  most  charming  and  lovable. 
Angels  veil  their  eyes  with  their  wings  as  a  shield 
from  the  brilliancy  of  his  face.  When  John  saw 
him  on  the  Isle  of  Patmos,  after  he  had  been  in 
heaven  about  fifty  years,  he  was  prostrated  by  the 
effulgence  of  his  form.  He  says,  "And  when  I 
saw  him,  I  fell  at  his  feet  as  dead."  (Revelation 
1 :  17.)  The  three  disciples  were  overwhelmed  with 
his  glory  on  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration,  where 

272 


The  Divine   Method   of   Discipleship 

*^his   face  did   shine  as  the   sun,   and   his  raiment 
was  white  as  the  Hght." 

In  the  Song  of  Solomon  we  have  a  mysterious  and 
incomprehensible  description  of  the  heavenly  Bride- 
groom and  his  bride,  the  beauty  of  which  will  ac- 
count for  the  extended  quotation  that  follows. 
Hear  the  heart  cry  for  the  absent  One :  "My  beloved 
had  withdrawn  himself,  and  was  gone :  my  soul 
failed  when  he  spake:  I  sought  him,  but  I  could 
not  find  him ;  I  called  him,  but  he  gave  me  no 
answer.  The  watchmen  that  went  about  the  city 
found  me,  they  smote  me,  they  wounded  me;  the 
keepers  of  the  walls  took  away  my  veil  from  me. 
I  charge  you,  O  daughters  of  Jerusalem,  if  ye 
find  my  beloved,  that  ye  tell  him,  that  I  am  sick 
of  love."  This  passionate  night-searcher  found 
no  sympathy  or  help  from  the  police  and  city  war- 
dens ;  but,  contrarywise,  clubs  and  larceny.  Then  she 
appealed  to  the  women  of  the  city  for  help,  and  in 
reply  got  the  coldest  rebuff.  They  said:  ''What 
is  thy  beloved  more  than  another  beloved,  O  thou 
fairest  among  women?  what  is  thy  beloved  more 
than  another  beloved,  that  thou  dost  so  charge  us?" 
Then  comes  the  bride's  answer;  but  who  can 
fathom  it  or  comprehend  it?  Was  ever  such  an- 
other picture  thrown  upon  canvas,  or  lingual  de- 
scription given?  Only  the  most  ardent  and  gifted 
lover  could  clothe  her  suitor  with  such  a  celestial 
robe :  "My  beloved  is  white  and  ruddy,  the  chiefest 
among  ten  thousand.  His  head  is  as  the  most  fine 
gold,  his  locks  are  bushy,  and  black  as  a  raven.  His 
eyes  are  as  the  eyes  of  doves  by  the  rivers  of  wa- 
ters, washed  with  milk,  and  fitly  set.     His  cheeks 

273 


The  Exalted  Life 

are  as  a  bed  of  spices,  as  sweet  flowers :  his  lips 
like  lilies,   dropping  sweet  smelling  myrrh.        His 

hands  are  as  gold  rings  set  with  beryl his 

countenance  is  as  Lebanon,  excellent  as  the  cedars. 
His  mouth  is  most  sweet :  yea,  he  is  altogether  love- 
ly. This  is  my  beloved,  and  this  is  my  friend,  O 
daughters  of  Jerusalem."     (Solomon  5:6-16.) 

What  a  testimony  to  personal  loveliness  and 
beauty !  Was  it  hard  for  such  a  bride  to  give  her- 
self to  such  a  charming  lover?  And  is  it  at  all 
strange  that  there  was  awakened  in  the  daughters 
of  Jerusalem  a  desire  to  join  her  in  seeking  him? 
They  said,  "Whither  is  thy  beloved  turned  aside? 
that  we  may  seek  him  with  thee."  Hear  the  answer, 
**My  beloved  has  gone  down  into  his  garden,  to  the 
beds  of  spices,  to  feed  in  the  gardens,  and  to  gather 
lilies.    I  am  my  beloved's,  and  my  beloved  is  mine." 

Now  all  this  is  the  passionate  cry  of  Christ's 
true  bride.  She  wants  to  be  with  him,  and  can 
never  be  satisfied  until  she  is  in  his  company.  It 
is  equally  true,  only  in  a  higher  sense,  that  Christ 
is  longing  for,  and  constantly  seeking  the  compan- 
ionship of  his  bride.  She  is  the  purchaser  of  his 
blood,  and  by  his  blood  is  to  be  made  ready  for  the 
great  wedding  feast,  when  he  will  take  her  into 
the  heavenly  guest  chamber.  John  says,  "He  loved 
us,  and  washed  us  from  our  sins  in  his  own  blood." 

The  Church  is  to  be  "a  glorious  Church."  She 
is  glorious  in  her  founder,  glorious  in  her  antiquity, 
glorious  in  her  heavenly  mission,  glorious  in  her 
conquests,  glorious  in  her  unity,  and  glorious  in  her 
heavenly  character.  It  is  when  she  "looketh  forth 
as  the  morning,  fair  as  the  moon,  and  clear  as  the 

274 


The  Dhdne   Method  of   Discipleship 

sun,"  that  she  is  to  be  "terrible  as  an  army  with 
banners." 

When  the  Church  has  prepared  herself,  "adorned 
as  a  bride  for  her  husband,"  Christ  will  come  to  re- 
ceive her  unto  himself.  Events  are  marshaling 
in  order  to  this  great  event.  What  a  blessed  thing 
if  all  the  virgins  keep  their  lamps  trimmed,  oil 
in  their  vessels  with  their  lamps,  and  thus  be  ready 
for  the  midnight  cry,  "Behold,  the  bridegroom 
Cometh !" 

Now  ought  it  be  hard  to  make  Christ  the  center, 
the  object,  the  aim  of  life,  instead  of  self?  Rather 
ought  not  the  offer  of  such  an  exchange  be  most 
welcome?  One  may  be  ready  to  say,  "Oh,  I  am 
so  weak,  so  unworthy,  just  nothing."  Then  why 
not  give  up  nothing  for  something?  To  give  up 
self  for  Christ  is  to  give  up  bondage  for  freedom, 
Satan  for  Jesus,  sin  for  holiness,  death  for  life, 
filthy  rags  for  a  robe  of  righteousness,  a  shack  for 
a  palace,  and  earth  for  heaven.  Ought  it  be  hard 
to  give  up  the  wages  of  sin  for  the  gift  of  eternal 
life?  Who  would  not  exchange  sickness  for  health, 
and  the  company  of  the  lost  for  the  company  of 
the  saved?    Reader,  won't  you? 

We  now  take  another  very  striking  illustration  of 
this  life  of  self-denial — that  of  a  soldier.  The  mili- 
tant life  is  one  of  self-surrender,  and  is  so  dis- 
solute as  to  leave  the  soldier  dead  to  every  other 
will  except  that  of  his  commander's.  From  the 
moment  he  enlists  in  the  army  he  belongs  to  his 
country  and  is  under  his  country's  control.  Fifty 
thousand,  one  hundred  thousand,  or  one  million  of 
soldiers   are  marshaled,   through  subalterns,   under 

275 


The  Exalted  Life 

one  will.  As  an  individual  the  true  soldier  has  no 
choice  as  to  where  he  shall  be  garrisoned,  when 
go  on  bivouac,  who  shall  be  his  commander,  nor 
how  he  shall  spend  his  time.  He  has  no  choice  as 
to  what  division  of  the  army  he  shall  belong,  when 
he  shall  advance  or  retreat;  the  place  or  length  of 
encampment,  nor  the  method  or  hour  of  battle.  He 
cannot  dictate  times  of  peace  or  of  war;  it  is  his 
to  receive  and  execute  orders,  however  dangerous 
to  life,  repugnant  to  feelings,  or  adverse  to  per- 
sonal choice. 

Self,  home,  friends,  business,  and  even  life  itself 
are  all  put  into  the  surrender  for  one's  country. 
Long,  weary  marches,  hunger  and  thirst,  cold  and 
heat;  unsheltered,  sleepless  nights;  sickness  and 
wounds,  hospitals  and  prisons,  loss  of  limbs  and  life, 
are  all  brooked  and  braved  that  freedom  may  be 
maintained.  What  illustrious  examples  of  conse- 
crated heroism  adorn  the  pages  of  history,  both 
ancient  and  modern.  Who  that  has  ever  read  that 
little  tale  from  French  history  has  not  felt  his 
heart  beat  quickened  ?  I  quote  it :  It  was  when  the 
army  of  Italy  was  crossing  the  Alps,  on  that  famous 
expedition  with  which  all  adventurous  history  rings, 
that  a  nameless  drummer-boy  was  swept  from  the 
ranks  by  a  falling  avalanche.  He  was  carried 
into  a  deep  hollow,  covered  with  never  dissolving 
ice  and  snow.  It  occurred  that  he  was  not  seriously 
hurt  by  the  sudden  and  awful  plunge.  He  at  once 
climbed  up  to  the  top  of  the  great  mass  of  ice,  and 
waved  his  hand  to  show  that  he  was  still  alive. 
Along  the  narrow,  giddy  heights,  two  hundred  feet 
above   him,  the  advancing  army   wearily  filed   on. 

276 


The  Divine   Method   of   Discipleship 

With  his  drum  still  hanging  at  his  neck,  he  at  once 
began  to  beat  the  military  calls  and  charges  to 
which  he  had  been  trained.  Every  stroke  of  the 
tattoo,  reiveille,  the  advance,  the  charge,  in  the 
clear,  frosty  air,  went  to  the  ear  and  heart  of 
every  soldier.  Time  went  on,  but  he  patiently 
kept  his  drumsticks  flying.  As  the  path  up  the 
mountain  zigzagged,  in  order  to  ascend  the  im- 
mense acclivity,  there  would  be  times  when  the 
whole  army  would  vanish  from  his  sight,  then  re- 
turn again,  but  each  time  farther  up  the  steep. 
Still,  clear  and  echoing  floated  up  that  familiar,  rat- 
tling drumbeat  on  the  ears  of  the  advancing  and 
vanishing  army.  Hardy  veterans  there  were,  who 
wept  as  the  hours  passed ;  for  they  knew  they  were 
leaving  the  poor  drummer-boy  behind.  No  com- 
rade came  to  his  rescue.  The  emperor  had  decided 
to  leave  him  where  he  was.  What  was  one  poor 
drummer-boy  to  the  army  of  Napoleon  Boneparte? 
It  was  not  long  until  this  brave  lad  so  understood  it. 
He  at  once  doubled  his  activity.  He  vigorously 
plied  his  arms  to  keep  his  life  impulse  warm.  Far 
up  the  bright  ridge  he  saw  the  vanishing  columns 
grow  dimmer.  Then,  brave  in  the  midst  of  absolute 
despair,  he  suddenly  changed  the  brisk  relief-call 
he  had  been  beating,  to  a  strain  sadder  and  of  a 
deeper  meaning.  He  paused  a  few  moments,  then 
began  to  beat  a  funeral  march.  They  all  heard 
those  sober  strokes  of  death  as  they  thrilled  on  the 
cold  air,  but  could  give  no  heed  or  relief.  Finally, 
courageous  endurance  made  a  heroic  surrender,  and 
then  the  tired  boy,  as  his  last  act,  decently  composed 
his  limbs  on  the  snowy  bank  to  die,  with  the  ice  for 

277 


The  Exalted  Life 

his  pillow,  the  frost  for  his  shroud,  and  the  falling 
snow  for  his  covering. 

How  every  father  of  a  son  at  home  yearned  over 
this  brave  lad  as  he  heard  the  drum-beat  growing 
fainter  and  fainter  until  it  was  stilled  forever. 
IIow  he  thought  this  lost  boy  might  have  been  his 
own,  as  his  slender,  frozen  body  lay  by  his  silent 
drum. 

Only  a  child !  you  may  say :  but  if  yours  or  mine, 
how  valuable !  The  drum-beat  of  souls  calling  for 
help  resound  in  many  lands ;  but  who  hears,  or 
hearing,  heeds?  Who,  like  the  true  soldier,  will 
count  all  things  but  loss  for  the  excellency  of  Christ 
Jesus  our  Lord?  Who  will  present  his  body  a  liv- 
ing sacrifice,  holy,  acceptable  unto  the  Lord  ?  Noth- 
ing less  will  do,  nothing  less  will  be  considered 
reasonable  service. 

Once  more,  as  an  illustration  of  self-denial,  let 
us  take  the  life  of  a  member  of  a  monastic  order, 
a  monk.  Here  the  life  is  more  strenuous,  if  pos- 
sible, than  that  of  the  soldier.  The  soldier  is  con- 
trolled more  especially  in  his  outward  life,  physical 
activities,  by  the  regime  peculiar  to  military  life, 
while  in  the  case  of  members  of  a  monastic  order 
they  surrender  time,  money,  faith,  conscience,  all. 
The  most  absolute  censorship  is  maintained  over  all 
their  faith,  their  teaching,  and  their  doing.  They 
are,  apparently  ''like  a  dead  body"  in  the  hands  of 
their  superior. 

Now  how  much  more  real  than  all  this  ought  to 
be  the  life  lived  for,  and  devoted  to  Christ.  The 
motto  of  every  such  one  should  be:  'T  die  daily." 
"For   thy   sake   we   are   killed   all   the   day   long." 

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The   Divine   Method   of   Discipleship 

Feeble-minded  sympathy  once  implored  Paul  to 
safe-guard  himself.  Hear  his  courageous  answer: 
**What  mean  ye  to  weep  and  break  my  heart?  For 
I  am  ready,  not  to  be  bound  only,  but  also  to  die 
at  Jerusalem,  for  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus." 

Is  there  not  a  great  lack  of  apostolic  courage  and 
zeal  among  us  Christians  of  this  day?  How  un- 
willing many  ministers  are  to  undergo  hardships 
and  risks  in  saving  souls.  "We  are  afraid  to  wear 
out  early."  Whitefield  is  reported  to  have  said,  *'I 
am  immortal  till  my  work  is  done."  After  all, 
what  is  life,  what  is  health,  what  is  ease,  what  is 
honor,  what  is  wealth,  what  are  all  worldly  gains, 
compared  with  living  for  Christ?  Souls  are  perish- 
ing for  whom  he  died,  and  will  his  ministers  and 
his  Church  trifle  with  such  infinite  values?  The 
breaking  out  of  some  contagious  disease  will  make 
us  cowards  and  drive  us  from  the  very  field  of  our 
calling;  when  for  wealth  and  human  glory  the 
storms  of  India,  the  miasmas  of  the  tropics,  wild 
beasts  and  savages,  the  Goths  and  Yahoos,  earth- 
quakes and  living  volcanoes  are  dared  and  braved. 

What  if  we  perish,  lay  down  our  lives  for  Christ? 
Is  that  not  what  we  agreed  to  when  we  enlisted 
under  his  leadership  and  entered  his  service?  We 
read  of  some  recluses  in  a  Franciscan  convent  being 
summoned  to  the  aid  of  the  sick  and  the  dying, 
when  an  epidemic  was  raging  in  a  city.  Each  was 
allotted  his  place  and  duty,  and  went  forth  without 
hesitation  or  reserve.  On  the  return,  each  was  to 
ring  a  bell,  if  able,  to  announce  that  all  was  well.  If 
that  monitory  bell  was  silent  at  sunset,  then  it  was 
known  that  this  comrade  had  fallen,  and  another 

279 


The  Exalted  Life 

monk  was  sent  to  take  his  place  and  continue  the 
work  of  relief.  When  the  plague  was  finally  stayed, 
it  was  found  that  twenty-four  brave,  unshrinking 
men  had  paid  the  price  of  their  devotion  with  their 
lives.  Who  can  tell  how  many  lives  these  lives  had 
saved  from  suffering  and  death?  It  was  life  for 
life. 

This  is  just  what  Christ  wants  of  every  one  of 
his  followers.  He  wants  every  life  given  to  him, 
for  his  investment  and  use.  He  can  keep  it  for  the 
highest  and  best  purposes,  and  for  the  largest  re- 
sults and  the  greatest  rewards.  Should  there,  ought 
there  be  any  hesitancy  in  making  this  transfer,  and 
this  exchange  of  self  for  Christ?  In  other  words, 
changing  the  center  from  self  to  Christ? 

We  now  come  to  consider  the  next  step  in  the 
order  of  discipleship,  as  given  by  Jesus,  the  taking 
up  of  the  cross. 

The  cross,  in  a  generic  sense,  stands  for  Chris- 
tianity; preeminently  for  the  Christian  religion.  To 
the  Christian  it  covers  the  realm  of  doctrine,  duty, 
and  suffering.  It  is  the  great  meeting-place  of 
Christ  and  his  followers.  It  involves  a  life  of 
suffering  and  of  service.  It  stands  for  the  death 
of  sin,  and  so  must  be  taken  as  the  hope  and  de- 
liverance from  sin.  The  cross  is  the  real  test  of 
true  discipleship.  Without  it  there  can  be  no  fol- 
lowing of  Christ  whatever  may  be  the  profession  to 
the  contrary.  Jesus  makes  this  very  emphatic  in 
the  tests  that  he  lays  down  in  Luke  14 :  26,  27,  33, 
where  he  uses  the  word  "cannoV  in  relation  to  kin- 
dred, the  cross,  and  all  earthly  possessions.  In  the 
twenty-seventh  verse  he  says,  "And  whosoever  doth 

280 


The  Divine   Method  of   Discipleship 

not  bear  his  cross,  and  come  after  me,  cannot  be 
my  disciple." 

Here  there  is  no  room  for  parlying  or  quibbling 
He  knows  the  terms  and  conditions  on  which  one 
can  enter  into  relationship  with  him,  become  his 
disciple.  Earliest  in  this,  and  most  fundamental 
on  the  line  of  doctrine,  one  of  the  things  for  which 
the  cross  stands,  is  that  acceptance  of  the  new,  di- 
vine nature.  This  is  all  determining  and  inclusive. 
No  other  nature  can  bear  this  cross.  They  are 
so  related  to  each  other,  that  it  is  as  impossible 
to  separate  them  in  the  development  of  Christian 
character  as  to  join  law  and  grace,  sin  and  holi- 
ness in  such  a  character.  "The  carnar  mind  is 
enmity  against  God :  for  it  is  not  subject  to  the 
law,  neither  indeed  can  be.  So  they  that  are  in 
the  flesh  cannot  please  God."  Man  by  nature  "is 
dead  in  trespasses  and  in  sins,"  and  so  is  a  child  "of 
the  wicked  one."  There  are  but  two  spiritual  king- 
doms in  this  world,  and  those  that  are  not  the  sub- 
jects of  the  one,  are  of  necessity  subjects  of  the 
other;  and  those  that  have  not,  by  regeneration, 
been  translated  out  of  the  "kingdom  of  darkness 
into  the  kingdom  of  God's  dear  Son,"  are  still  un- 
der the  reign  of  the  Prince  of  Darkness.  God  can- 
not build  up  his  kingdom  on  earth  without  a  change 
of  nature  in  its  subjects.  This  change  is  designated 
as  "life  from  the  dead,"  and  as  a  "new  creation," 
and  it  is  impossible  for  such  a  change  to  occur 
without  being  manifested  in  the  life.  Can  the  life 
of  spring  follow  the  death  of  winter,  and  still  all 
be  as  cold  and  sterile  as  before?  Can  day  follow 
night  and  there  be  no  evidence  of  change?    Could 

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The  Exalted  Life 

the  dead  Lazarus  come  forth  from  his  grave  and 
still  there  be  no  manifestation  of  life?  Can  a  soul 
dead  in  sin  be  quickened  to  life  by  the  Holy  Spirit 
and  be  just  as  before?  Can  a  soul  pass  from  death 
to  life,  from  darkness  to  light,  from  sickness  to 
health,  from  sorrow  to  joy,  and  from  Satan  to  God, 
and  not  know  it?  It  is  utterly  unthinkable,  irra- 
tional, impossible. 

Can  all  these  changes  occur  and  yet  none 
of  the  peculiarities  that  belong  to  this  new  life, 
this  changed  nature,  be  manifested  in  the  conduct, 
in  the  course  of  living?  There  is  something  that 
distinguishes  Christians  from  the  great  mass  of 
humanity.  They  are  to  be  a  "peculiar  people,  zeal- 
ous of  good  works."  Christ  did  not  die  to  redeem 
us  just  to  make  us  like  other  people.  We  are 
that  any  way;  by  nature  we  are  just  like  other 
people.  If  this  is  not  true,  then  our  religion  is 
worthless,  and  our  profession  of  it  is  as  "sounding 
brass  and  a  tinkling  cymbal." 

This  cross,  whatever  it  may  mean  to  the 
individual  Christian,  must  be  taken  up.  "Let  him 
take  up  his  cross."  It  is  worth  while  for  us  to 
pause  for  a  moment  to  inquire  as  to  what  the  ex- 
pression, "take  up"  means?  Who  can  take  up  the 
cross,  and  what  is  it  to  take  it  up?  What  I  mean 
is  this :  Can  an  unrenewed,  unregenerate  life,  be 
a  cross-bearing  life?  If  "the  carnal  mind  is  enmity 
against  God,"  as  Paul  says,  and  if  "to  be  carnally 
minded  is  death,"  can  such  a  moral  and  spiritual 
condition  be  in  harmony  with  what  the  cross  sig- 
nifies and  what  it  stands  for?  Certainly  the  cross 
is  related  to,  and  stands  for  the  very  opposite  to  that 

282 


The   Divine   Method   of   Discipleship 

of  enmity  and  death,  or  Paul  never  could  have 
gloried  in  it.  This  being  true,  the  question  is  very 
naturally  raised  whether  any  one  can  take  up  the 
cross  who  has  not  been  born  again,  and  thus  passed 
into  spiritual  kinship  and  fellowship  with  Christ? 
If  Christ's  death  on  the  cross  constitutes  the  very 
essence  of  Christianity,  and  if  the  cross  denotes 
the  new,  divine  life  in  man,  can  the  unregenerate 
spirit  stand  in  any  other  attitude  to  the  cross  than 
that  of  enmity?  Paul  affirmed  of  many  persons  at 
Philippi,  professing  to  be  Christians,  that  they 
were  really  enemies  of  the  religion  which  they  pro- 
fessed. He  says,  *'For  many  walk,  of  whom  I  have 
told  you  often,  and  now  tell  you  even  weeping, 
that  they  are  the  enemies  of  the  cross  of  Christ." 
(Philippians  3 :  18.)  So  it  is  possible  to  be  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Church,  and  make  a  glowing  profession 
of  religion,  and  yet  be  an  enemy  of  the  cross. 

This  makes  it  very  important-  that  we  individually 
know,  beyond  a  doubt,  whether  we  are  real  Chris- 
tians, or  only  making  a  profession  of  religion.  To 
use  the  cross  in  this  way  and  for  this  purpose 
is  blasphemous.  It  is  too  sacred,  and  stands  for 
what  is  too  divine  to  be  turned  to  the  use  and 
account  of  hypocrisy.  In  the  truest  s,ense  such  foul 
hands  cannot  touch  it,  nor  such  spurious  tongues 
profess  it.  It  is  the  divine  altar  on  which  Jesus 
offered  up  himself  for  sin,  and  consequently  must 
forever  remain  holy. 

There  are  certain  things  that  must  be  classed  as 
being  at  variance  with  the  life  that  the  cross  stands 
for  and  what  it  is  intended  to  promote.  First  and 
chief   among  these   is   an   unrenewed   heart.     The 

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The  Exalted  Life 

heart  unchanged  is  "deceitful  above  all  things,  and 
desperately  wicked."  Such  a  heart  is  against  the 
cross.  The  practice  of  known  sin  is  a  life  at  vari- 
ance with  the  cross.  It  ruined  Achan  and  Judas. 
David  said,  "If  I  regard  iniquity  in  my  heart,  the 
Lord  will  not  hear  me."  In  this  connection  may 
be  classed  all  questionable  business  relations  and 
transactions.  Possibly  there  never  was  a  time  in 
the  history  of  the  commercial  world  more  danger- 
ous than  the  present  time.  Thousands  of  Christian 
men  have  cultivated  a  commercialized  instead  of 
a  Christian  conscience;  following  business  methods 
and  standards  instead  of  the  golden  rule.  Biblical 
ethics  have  a  slight  hold  on  many  business  men, 
though  church  adherents,  that  are  in  the  marts  of 
fashion  and  wealth,  the  boom  of  towns  and  cities, 
and  the  exploitation  of  mines  and  landed  estates. 
Conscience  is  given  a  lone,  silent  seat  in  a  dark,  un- 
discovered corner,  while  its  professed  godfather  goes 
into  the  commercial  arena  to  fight  for  the  prize, 
using  all  the  tricks  known  to  the  coterie  that  are  in 
the  business.  All  questionable  deals  are  simply 
dubbed  as  belonging  to  good  business  methods,  the 
tricks  of  trade,  and  are  thus  passed  over.  Where 
is  the  cross  here?  Worldly  affairs  have  the  as- 
cendency. As  Paul  says,  "they  mind  earthly  things." 
How  different  from  having  "the  conversation  in 
heaven." 

The  question  of  taking  up  the  cross  is  decided  by 
the  character  and  the  will  of  the  individual.  As 
previously  implied,  no  one  can  take  up  the  cross 
that  has  not  a  renewed  nature.  There  must  be  an 
identity  with  the  kingdom  of  God,  must  be  sons 

284 


The  Divine   Method  of   Discipleship 

of  God,  in  order  to  a  oneness  with  what  the  cross 
stands  for.  Then  we  only  really  take  up  what  we 
choose,  what  we  will.  If  we  perform  our  duties 
and  assume  our  responsibilities  protestingly  or 
even  heroically,  if  against  our  wills,  we  have  not 
done  it  as  unto  the  Lord.  "If  ye  be  willing  and 
obedient  ye  shall  eat  the  good  of  the  land."  (Isaiah 
1 :  19.)  "If  there  be  first  a  willing  mind,  it  is  ac- 
cep'ted  according  to  that  a  man  hath,  and  not  accord- 
ing to  that  he  hath  not."  (II.  Corinthians  8:  12.) 
Paul  admits  the  force  of  his  calling,  and 
then  adds,  "If  I  do  this  willingly,  I  have  a  reward." 
(I.  Corinthians  9:  17.)  He  tells  Timothy  to  take 
the  oversight  and  fed  the  flock  of  God,  not  by 
constraint  but  willingly. 

So,  then,  it  is  only  what  is  done,  and  what  is 
suffered,  willingly,  upon  the  part  of  the  followers 
of  Jesus,  that  they  will  be  credited  with  as  cross- 
bearings,  taking  up  their  cross. 

Then  we  have  a  clear  indication  of  personal  con- 
viction as  to  what  each  one  is  to  do,  what  his 
life  work  is  to  be.  It  is  ''his  cross."  How  much 
need  there  is  of  definite  teaching  and  clear  convic- 
tioTis  on  this  line  in  the  Church  to-day.  What  a 
conglomerate,  heterogeneous  mass  of  moral  and  in- 
tellectual material  the  militant  Church  represents, 
that  is  largely  useless  for  want  of  some  directing 
agency.  How  many  official  misfits,  and  how  much 
wasted  time  and  energy,  and  consequent  failure 
in  results,  are  observable  on  every  hand.  Surely 
this  was  not  so  intended  at  the  beginning,  or  the  Holy 
Spirit  would  never  have  been  sent  to  guide  the 
Church   into   all   truth   and   to   distribute   spiritual 

285 


The  Exalted  Life 

gifts  according  to  his  own  choosing,  ''dividing  to 
every  man  severally  as   he  wills." 

The  Church,  as  God's  temple  and  as  the  body 
of  Christ,  must  certainly  have  a  wise  masterbuilder. 
Paul  says,  ''For  we  are  laborers  together  with 
God :  ye  are  God's  husbandry,  ye  are  God's  build- 
ing." (I.  Corinthians  3:9.)  Paul  says  of  himself 
that  he  was  equipped  with  grace  "as  a  wise  master- 
builder."  In  writing  to  the  Ephesians  he  tells  them 
that  they  belong  to  the  household  of  God,  and 
are  a  part  of  that  "building  fitly  framed  together," 
and  that  "groweth  unto  an  holy  temple  in  the  Lord, 
for  an  habitation  of  God  through  the  Spirit." 
(Ephesians  2:  19-22.) 

It  needs  only  a  casual  survey  of  the  history  of 
the  early  Church  to  see  how  largely  the  Holy 
Spirit  took  charge  of  the  work  and  directed  all 
the  various  agencies  that  were  employed.  In  all 
matters  of  grave  and  serious  importance  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Holy  Spirit  was  specifically  sought  by 
the  Church.  The  disciples  associated  themselves 
with  the  Spirit  in  their  councils,  he  being  the  chief 
one  in  directing  their  work.  In  the  great  council 
at  Jerusalem,  when  serious  questions  were  to  be 
considered  that  were  vitally  related  to  the  unity 
of  the  Church,  we  have  the  remarkable  words  as 
given  in  the  preamble  of  their  action :  "For  it 
seemed  good  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  to  us,  to  lay 
upon  you  no  greater  burden  than  these  necessary 
things."     (Acts  15:28.) 

Here  we  have  the  concurrent  judgment  of  both 
the  Holy  Spirit  and  the  Church  when  in  council 
together  touching  the  perpetuity  of  a  certain  ordi- 

2S6 


The   Divine   Method   of   Discipleship 

nance  in  the  Church.  Is  this  not  one  of  the  most 
important  passages  in  the  New  Testament?  It 
gives  the  object  for  which  the  Holy  Spirit  was  sent 
into  the  world ;  namely,  to  be  the  guide  of  the 
Church.  But  is  the  Church  recognizing  this  honor, 
and  availing  herself  of  this  divine  leadership  as  she 
should,  and  as  it  was  intended  at  the  beginning?  If 
not,  what  a  discredit  to  herself,  what  a  loss  in  her 
power  of  effective  service;  and  what  an  offense  to 
the  divine  -giver  and  grief  to  the  One  sent. 

There  is  a  definite  place  for  every  worker  in 
the  Church,  and  each  one  ought  to  have  a  definite 
conviction  that  he  is  in  the  line  of  his  calling;  then 
his  work  will  be  spiritual,  whether  he  is  a  preacher 
in  the  pulpit,  a  professor  in  the  college,  a  steward 
in  the  church,  a  carpenter  at  his  bench,  a  tiller  of 
the  soil,  or  a  matron  in  the  home.  There  is  a  word 
in  the  Old  Testament  that  says,  "Abide  ye  every 
man  in  his  place."  The  New  Testament  says,  "Let 
every  man  abide  in  the  same  calling  wherein  he 
was  called."  The  reason  assigned  for  this  is,  "Ye 
are  bought  with  a  price;  be  not  ye  therefore  the 
servants  of  men.  Brethren,  let  every  man,  wherein 
he  is  called,  therein  abide  with  God."  (I.  Corinth- 
ians 7:20-24.) 

I  have  quoted  these  Scriptures  to  confirm  the 
statement  that  the  Holy  Spirit  should  be  honored 
as  the  guide  of  the  members  of  the  body  of  Christ, 
and  for  this  purpose  should  be  sought  as  the  great 
leader  and  teacher  in  all  matters  pertaining  to  life 
and  godliness.  Otherwise,  how  shall  each  individ- 
ual member  of  the  divine  family  know  what  his 
cross  is,  and  whether  he  is  bearing  it,  taking  it  up? 

287 


The  Exalted  Life 

If  appealed  to  for  an  assuring  word  on  this  line, 
how  many  professing  Christians  could  give  a  clear 
and  unquestioning  answer  as  to  the  certainty  of 
their  being  where,  and  doing  what  God  wants  them  ? 

Reader,  to  the  question,  "Do  you  know  your 
cross?"  What  is  your  answer?  He  that  does  not 
know  what  his  cross  is,  has  none,  and  hence 
is  not  bearing  any  cross.  To  bear  his  cross  the 
believer  must  know  what  it  is.  Is  it  a  matter 
of  such  indifference  that  it  is  not  worth  while  to  set- 
tle it,  and  hence  go  on  without  a  cross  that  can  be 
claimed  as  a  personal  privilege  and  a  guarantee  of 
eternal  life? 

As  only  that  can  be  our  cross  as  a  duty  which  we 
take  as  an  act  of  our  own  will,  under  and  in 
harmony  with  the  divine  will,  everything  not  so 
taken  is  excluded  from  our  cross-bearing.  Paul's 
thorn  in  the  flesh  did  not  become  his  cross  as  long 
as  he  was  resisting  it  by  prayer.  It  was  only 
when  under  the  fuller  light  of  the  divine  will  that 
he  accepted  it  as  one  among  the  many  crosses  that 
he  had  to  bear,  exclaiming,  ''Most  gladly  there- 
fore will  I  rather  glory  in  my  infirmities,  that  the 
power  of  Christ  may  rest  upon  me."  (II.  Cor- 
inthians 12:9.)  In  the  tenth  verse  of  this  same 
chapter  he  enlarges  on  his  acquiescence  and  glory- 
ing, saying,  ''Therefore,  I  take  pleasure  in  infirmi- 
ties, in  reproaches,  in  necessities,  in  persecutions,  in 
distresses  for  Christ's  sake:  for  when  I  am  weak, 
then  am  I  strong."  He  went  to  such  an  extent 
in  this  triumph  in  his  affections  that  he  said,  "I  am 
become  a  fool  in  glorying." 

288 


The   Divine   Metliod   of   Discipleship 

How  in  a  very  new  and  forcible  way  the  writer, 
while  thinking  over  this  trumph  of  Paul,  was  struck 
with  the  thought  of  the  transformation  of  a  thorn 
into  a  crown,  a  trial  into  a  triumph,  weakness 
into  strength,  infirmities  into  pleasure !  The  cross 
was  there  with  all  its  shame,  humiliation,  disgrace, 
torture,  and  distress,  but  as  soon  as  yielded  to,  ac- 
cepted, taken  up,  it  vanished  in  the  will  of  God,  dis- 
appearing as  a  cross  and  reappearing  as  a  pleasure. 
But,  before  this  transformation  could  occur  it  had 
to  be  put  under  the  divine  will  for  final  disposi- 
tion. 

The  cross  may  be  viewed  in  two  phases  or  as- 
pects, those  within  and  those  without.  The  one 
within  vanishes  as  soon  as  there  is  perfect  conform- 
ity to,  and  harmony  with  the  divine  will.  What  was 
a  medium  of  suffering  and  death  becomes  a  medium 
of  pleasure  and  larger  life.  Crosses  without  may 
last  as  long  as  time  lasts,  but  those  within  cease  as 
soon  as  the  divine  will  becomes  the  supreme  au- 
thority in  the  life.  God's  will  is  always  right,  and 
any  inward  variation  from  it  must  be  wrong.  To 
say  from  the  heart,  "Thy  will  be  done,"  ends  an- 
tagonism. 

Whatever  the  cross  is,  in  any  given  case,  it 
is  not  greater  than  God's  grace.  *'My  grace  is  suf- 
ficient for  thee,"  is  the  promise.  Let  us  never  cease 
to  sing. 


"Must  Jesus  bear  the  cross  alone, 
And  all  the  world  go  free? 
No,  there  is  a  cross  for  every  one, 
And  there's   a  cross  for  me." 

289 


The  Exalted  Life 

The  final  condition  in  this  life  of  discipleship,  as 
given  in  the  text  so  often  quoted,  is  following 
Jesus — this  completes  this  wonderful  trinity  of 
requirements — self-renunciation,  cross-bearing,  and 
following  this  divine  leader. 

We  need  think  only  for  a  moment  to  see  the 
necessity  and  the  beauty  of  this  order.  With  the 
self-life  dead,  and  with  a  form  of  service,  that  of 
bearing  a  cross,  which  means  the  continuity  of  this 
death,  how  absolute  the  necessity  for  a  leader !  Now 
that  self  is  turned  away  from,  and  a  new,  complex, 
and  hitherto  untrodden  pathway  over  which  to  go, 
how  important  the  leadership  of  one  that  knows  the 
way  and  has  gone  over  it  himself. 

This  leads  us  very  naturally  to  the  thought  of 
the  necessity  and  importance  of  humanizing  the 
divine.  W^hile  religion  is  divine,  it  is  still  the  most 
human  thing  in  the  world.  God  clothed  himself  with 
flesh,  "was  manifested  in  the  flesh";  Christ  was 
made  "a.  partaker  of  flesh  and  blood,"  was  "put  to 
death  in  the  flesh,"  and  all  that  we  might  thereby 
be  brought  into  fellowship  with  the  divine,  both  in 
the  character  of  the  life  lived,  and  in  the  method  of 
living,  of  practicing  it. 

There  are  two  methods  of  teaching  this  life  that 
trend  in  the  direction  of  the  false  and  impracticable. 
The  one  is  the  grading  down  of  this  life  to  a  point 
so  low  as  to  cut  out  the  supernatural,  and  put  it 
wholly  on  the  plane  of  the  humanly  ethical.  This 
is  the  drift  of  some  of  the  teachings  on  psychology, 
putting  all  on  the  line  of  training,  of  development. 
The  other  is  putting  this  life  on  so  exalted  a  plane 
as  to  largely  do  away  with  the  human  element,  and 

290 


The  Divine   Method  of   Discipleship 

thus  create  a  standard  so  divine  as  to  make  it 
impossible  of  realization  in  practice. 

Now  both  of  these  elements  meet  in,  and  are  re- 
vealed through  Christ,  who  was  both  human  and 
divine.  The  Word  was  made  flesh,  and  thus  com- 
passed the  very  elements  that  made  human  leader- 
ship possible  out  of  one  that  was  divine.  Divinity 
was  put  under  the  restraints  and  limitations  of 
the  human  in  order  to  make  possible  this  fellowship 
of  the  human  with  the  divine.  Jesus  was  full  of 
both  divinity  and  humanity,  and  so  restores,  to  all 
that  accept  him,  the  relationship  of  divine  father- 
hood and  spiritual  sonship.  No  one  can  receive 
Jesus  without  becoming,  thereby,  a  son  of  God,  and 
becoming  such  he  is  put  under  divine  guardianship 
and  guidance.  Here  the  family  relationship  is  es- 
tablished, and  training  and  discipline  must  obtain. 
While  the  relationship  is  divine,  it  is  not  so  divine 
as  to  do  away  with  the  human.  Both  are  blinded, 
as  in  the  case  of  Jesus  the  Christ,  and  must  work 
together  as  long  as  life  lasts.  The  one  couples  the 
human  soul  with  the  divine,  the  other  couples  hu- 
man souls  with  one  another,  and  so  enters  into  the 
social  and  constructive  life  of  the  world.  This 
establishes  the  divine  brotherhood  of  man,  the  only 
true  brotherhood  that  can  exist  in  this  gospel  age. 

To  "follow  me"  is  the  whole  of  the  Christian 
life  in  two  words.  To  follow  Christ  is  to  walk  in 
a  luminous  way.  He  is  the  light  of  the  world.  He 
said,  *'He  that  followeth  me  shall  not  walk  in 
darkness;  but  shall  have  the  light  of  life."  He  is 
our  example,  his  word  is  a  lamp  unto  our  feet, 
and  the  Holy  Spirit  our  guide  and  strength.  "Where 

291 


The  Exalted  Life 

he  leads  I  will  follow,"  settles  all  questions  of 
duty  and  final  destiny.  Jesus  said,  "If  any  man 
sen^e  me,  let  him  follow  me.  And  where  I  am, 
there  shall  also  my  servant  be." 

What  a  blessed  thing  to  remember,  and  to  al- 
ways remember,  ''that  we  [ye]  are  complete  in 
him."  Disappointed  progress  may  here  find  com- 
fort and  hope.  God's  temple  is  not  yet  finished,  but 
it  is  being  advanced  day  by  day,  if  we  are  "workers 
together  with  him." 

"Then  shall  we  know,  if  we  follow  on  to  know 
the  Lord :  his  going  forth  is  prepared  as  the  morn- 
ing; and  he  shall  come  unto  us  as  the  rain,  as  the 
latter  and  former  rain  unto  the  earth."  (Hosea  6: 
3.) 


292 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

The  Costume  and  Custom  Becoming  the  New 

Man. 

There  are  many  beautiful  and  striking  metaphors 
in  the  Scriptures  for  illustrating  and  enforcing  the 
changes  consequent  on  taking  up  the  Christian 
life,  the  changed  life  from  the  old  to  the  new. 
This  is  set  forth  by  Paul  in  his  letter  to  the  Colos- 
sians.      (Colossians  3:1-16.) 

Possibly  there  is  no  plainer  and  no  more  prac- 
tical illustration  of  the  transformed  life  given  in 
the  Bible  than  the  one  in  this  chapter.  The  terms 
and  figures  used  are  strikingly  antithetical,  and  for 
this  reason  are  all  the  more  forcible  and  convincing. 

Heaven  and  earth,  life  and  death,  old  man  and 
new  man,  with  the  characteristics  of  each,  are  put 
in  marked  contrast.  An  empty  grave  testifies  to 
a  risen  life.  "Ye  were  raised  together  with  Christ," 
are  the  words  of  the  apostle.  To  be  raised  with 
Christ,  there  must  be  a  death  with  him,  which 
Paul  affirms  in  the  third  verse  of  this  chapter,  "For 
ye  are  dead,  and  your  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in 
God,"  which  fact  accounts  for  the  precept  given  in 
the  first  verse,  "Seek  those  things  v/hich  are  above." 

Here  we  have  an  intimate  relationship  of  the 
believer  with  Christ  in  his  death  and  resurrection. 
This  is  a  strong  union,  bound  by  four  cables  that 
no  power,  outside  of  the  individual,  can  break,  and 
we  may  well  wonder  if  he  can,  namely:  "death  with 

293 


The  Exalted  Life 

Christ,"  "resurrected  with  Christ,"  "Hfe  hid  with 
Christ  in  God,"  and  "Christ  himself  the  life." 

This  union  marks  the  cessation  of  one  life,  the 
old,  and  the  beginning  of  another,  the  new,  desig- 
nated as  a  death  and  a  resurrection,  both  resulting 
through  faith  in  Christ,  who  is  the  channel  through 
which  life  comes  from  God,  who  is  called  the  foun- 
tain of  life.  Separation  from  this  source  of  life  is 
death,  and  is  just  as  unavoidable  as  the  death  of 
the  body  when  separated  from  the  human  spirit. 
There  may  be  an  abounding  physical  life,  a  strong 
intellectual  and  emotional  life,  while  the  highest, 
the  spiritual  nature  is  dead,  because  having  no  con- 
sciousness of  God.  This  consciousness  is  reached 
only  through  Christ,  and,  hence,  csnnot  exist 
apart  from  him  who  is  both  the  resurrection  and  the 
life. 

There  is  force  in  Paul's  words,  "If  then  ye  were 
raised  together  with  Christ,  seek  the  things  that  are 
above."  It  cannot  be  otherwise  than  that  the  life 
that  came  from  above  at  the  first,  and  then  after 
accomplishing  man's  redemption,  through  his  own 
death  and  resurrection,  and  returning  to  the  heaven- 
lies,  should  have  a  controlling  influence  and  power 
over  the  lives  of  his  followers.  This  is  especially 
true  when  he  is  their  very  life  down  here,  and  that 
life  the  same  that  Paul  says  God  "raised  from  the 
dead,  and  seated  at  his  own  right  hand  in  the 
heavenly  places,  and  hath  put  all  thinp:s  under  his 
feet,  and  hath  given  him  to  be  head  over  all  things 
to  the  Church,  which  is  his  body,  the  fullness  of  him 
that  filleth  all  in  all."     (Ephesians  1  :  20-23.) 

294 


The  Costume  and  Custom  Becoming  the  New  Man 

Christ's  resurrection  may  be  viewed  in  three  as- 
pects, confirming  the  divinity  of  his  mission,  a  guar- 
antee of  our  resurrection,  and  the  pattern  of  the 
new,  risen  life  of  his  followers.  Paul  says  we  died 
with  Christ;  affirms  his  resurrection  from  the  dead, 
and  then  says,  "Likewise  reckon  ye  also  yourselves 
to  be  dead  indeed  unto  sin,  but  alive  unto  God 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord."  (Romans  6:8- 
11.)  Here  we  have  the  analogy  between  the  con- 
quest of  death,  and  the  moral  and  spiritual  change 
wrought  in  the  believer,  resulting  in  death  to  the 
self-life;  as  in  the  case  of  the  woman  at  the  well, 
and  Saul  the  deadly  foe  of  the  early  Church. 
How  many  since  that  day,  profligates,  libertines, 
drunkards,  murderers,  have  found  it  life  from  the 
dead,  when  this  life-force  takes  possession  and 
controls  so  that  sin  can  no  longer  reign.  This  in- 
flowing life  is  sin's  conqueror.  It  must  be,  or  it 
would  not  be  like  the  life  of  him  who  came  to  set 
us  free  from  sin.  It  would  not  be  like  the  life  that 
is  set  over  on  that  side  of  the  grave  where  sin  is 
not  being  committed — the  new  Eden  of  grace,  en- 
tered and  safeguarded  by  the  new,  heavenly  birth- 
right, which  is  the  unsinning  life. 

In  the  best  and  truest  sense  this  risen  life  with 
Christ  puts  its  possessor  into  an  entirely  different 
order  of  things  from  that  which  obtains  in  the  life 
of  the  world,  so  that,  as  Jesus  says,  "They  are  not 
of  the  world,  even  as  I  am  not  of  the  world." 
Hear  his  prayer,  "I  pray  not  that  thou  shouldest 
take  them  out  of  the  world,  but  that  thou  shouldest 
keep  them  from  the  evil."     (John  17:  15,  16.) 

295 


The  Exalted  Life 

This  prayer  is  confirmatory  of  the  life  that  Chris- 
tians are  expected  to  live  during  this  church-age, 
living,  as  Christ  lived,  a  life  unrelated  to  this  world- 
system.  This  life  grounded  on  *'the  resurrection  of 
Jesus  Christ  from  tjie  dead,  and  our  being  risen 
with  him  to  a  new  life,  so  links  us  to  him  that 
we  may  triumphantly  exclaim  with  Paul,  *T  can  do 
all  things  in  him  that  strengtheneth  me."  We  must 
remember  that  we  are  not  linked  to  Christ  as  the 
one  crucified  when  he  was  in  weakness,  but  as  the 
one  risen  and  now  living  in  the  sphere  of  infinite 
power. 

As  like  begets  like,  and  as  every  cause  has 
its  corresponding  efifect,  it  is  but  reasonable  to 
expect  that  there  will  be  a  measure,  at  last,  of  cor- 
respondence between  the  outward  and  the  inward 
life.  And  as  Christ  is  the  inward  life,  that  from 
which  the  outward  flows,  there  must  of  necessity  be 
a  marked  resemblance  between  Jesus  and  his  follow- 
ers. This  was  clearly  seen  in  the  early  Church,  as 
in  the  case  of  Peter  and  John.  They  were  judged 
to  have  been  with  Jesus  and  learned  of  him.  John 
uses  very  strong  words  when  he  says,  "He  that 
dwelleth  in  love  dwelleth  in  God,  and  God  in  him. 
Herein  is  our  love  made  perfect,  that  we  may  have 
boldness  in  the  day  of  judgment:  because  as  he 
(Jesus)  is,  so  are  we  in  this  world.''  (I.  John  4: 
16,  17.) 

That  there  will  be  some  specks  and  flaws,  some 
imperfect  deeds  and  hasty  words,  some  shadings  of 
the  flesh  and  sense,  while  living  in  these  bodies, 
carrying  this  perfect  treasure  in  these  earthen  ves- 
sels, may  very  reasonably  be  expected.     But  these 

296 


The  Costume  and  Custom  Becoming  the  New  Man 

need  not  become  sin  to  us.  Sin  comes  from  an  en- 
lightened will  at  variance  with  God.  The  unavoid- 
able is  not  sin.  All  sin  is  the  transgression  of 
law;  but  all  transgression  of  law  is  not  sin.  In 
this  sense  who  is  he  that  liveth  and  does  not  in- 
vade law  in  some  form  or  in  some  sense?  "Who 
is  he  that  liveth  and  sinneth  not?"  But  this  form 
of  sinning  is  taken  care  of  by  the  atonement. 
"Blessed  are  they  whose  iniquities  are  forgiven, 
and  whose  sins  are  covered."     (Romans  4:7.) 

Technically,  law  may  be  transgressed  in  many 
ways,  entailing  suffering,  but  not  guilt.  Overwork, 
excessive  study,  exposure  to  heat  and  cold,  drink- 
ing impure  water,  eating  infectious  foods,  taking 
poisonous  medicines,  and  breathing  impure  air,  any 
one  or  all  of  which  may  work  direful  results,  even 
taking  life  itself;  but  the  individual  may  be  morally 
guiltless  because  done  unavoidably  or  in  ignorance. 

We  cannot  stop  breathing  because  we  have  come 
into  a  region  of  infectious  air.  Poisons,  in  the  guise 
of  wholesome  food,  may  be  taken  that  prove  fatal 
to  life,  which,  if  knowingly  and  intentionally  done 
would  have  been  suicidal.  God  will  always  respect 
law ;  but  he  will  shield  innocence,  as  in  the  case  of 
children,  the  simple-minded,  and  all  unavoidable 
ignorance  from  the  moral  effects  of  such  viola- 
tions. 

There  will  always  be  a  goal  ahead  of  us,  as 
long  as  normal  conditions  obtain  in  the  physical, 
mental,  and  spiritual  life.  The  vision  that  we  have 
of  Christ  will  ever  be  broadening  and  brightening 
until  the  twilight  ends  in  the  perfect  day.  With 
the  pursuit  of  things  above,  where  Christ  sitteth, 

297 


The  Exalted  Life 

and  with  the  ''mind  set  on  things  above,  not  on 
things  on  the  earth/'  it  cannot  be  otherwise.  John 
says,  "Now  are  we  the  sons  of  God,  and  it  doth 
not  yet  appear  what  we  shall  be:  but  we  know 
that,  when  he  shall  appear,  we  shall  be  like  him ; 
for  we  shall  see  him  as  he  is.  And  every  man  that 
hath  this  hope  in  him  purifieth  himself,  even  as  he 
is  pure."     (I.  John  3:1-3.) 

We  are  God's  sons  now;  but  what  we  shall  be 
is  yet  to  be  revealed.  But  one  thing,  and  that  is  the 
all  sufficient  thing,  is  promised,  and  that  is,  that 
when  it  is  revealed,  whatsoever  it  may  be,  we  shall 
be  like  Jesus ;  for  we  shall  see  him  as  he  is. 

To  begin  the  Christian  life  as  "sons  of  God"  is 
to  begin  on  a  very  high  and  exalted  plane,  involving 
a  responsibility  as  to  method  of  living  that  no  one 
can  be  indifferent  to,  or  careless  of  provisional  helps. 
"He  that  saith  he  abideth  in  him  ought  himself  also 
to  walk,  even  as  he  walked."  (I.  John  2:6.) 
Here  is  a  challenge  to  a  life  that  may  well  make 
us  stop  and  think  before  making  a  loud,  glowmg, 
unqualified  profession.  I  would  not  be  understood 
as  decrying  a  definite,  reliable,  satisfactory  scriptural 
profession ;  but  I  would  be  understood  as  saying, 
in  these  days  of  sensual  intoxication,  that  a  scroll, 
a  truthful  painting  of  the  life  lived  in  the  seclusion 
of  the  heart,  be  thrown  before  the  gaze  of  both  the 
doer  and  the  judge  of  the  doing  for  inspection,  to 
see  if  there  is  any  unreality  between  the  outward 
profession  and  the  inward  life.  Is  this  not  safe, 
viewed  in  the  light  of  Christian  candor  and  the 
hope  set  at  the  end  of  the  great  life- walk  of  pil- 
grims to  the  heavenly  city?     INIark!  it  is  "he  that 

298 


The  Costume  and  Custom  Becoming  the  New  Man 

saith  he  abideth  in  him,"  that  is  bound  to  this  imi- 
tative walk.  Here  is  a  divine  ideal  humanized  as 
a  standard  of  living,  and  thus  set  as  an  example 
in  the  moral  and  spiritual  life  of  God's  sons. 

In  this  connection  it  is  well  to  remember  that  this 
is  not  a  fanciful  or  freakish  ideal ;  but  authentic, 
because  living.  Christ  said,  ''Follow  me."  This 
means  life  resemblance.  It  means  a  personal  con- 
tact, a  life-touch  of  the  One  of  whom  it  is  said, 
"He  is  pure,"  "he  is  righteous,"  "in  him  is  no  sin," 
and  "he  is  the  propitiation  for  our  sins."  This  fol- 
lowing Christ,  walking  as  he  walked,  relates  to  all 
life's  activities,  inward  and  outward.  In  this  sense 
we  may  walk  while  outwardly  we  are  motionless. 
The  suffering  on  the  cross  was  a  part  of  Christ's 
walk.  There  is  a  mystical  as  well  as  a  literal,  out- 
ward walk.  Let  us  note  how  strikingly  true  this 
is  between  Christ  and  his  followers.  Was,  he  born 
of  the  flesh?  So  we  are  born  of  the  Spirit.  Was  he 
life?  So  we  walk  with  him  in  newness  of  life.  Did 
he  give  up  his  life  on  the  cross?  So  we  are  cruci- 
fied with  him.  Was  he  buried?  So  we  are  buried 
with  him.  Was  he  raised  from  the  dead?  So  we 
are  risen,  quickened  with  him.  Has  he  ascended 
on  high?  "He  hath  raised  us  up  together  and  made 
us  sit  together  in  heavenly  places  in  Christ  Jesus." 
(Ephesians  2:5,  6.) 

Here  a  once  sin-sodden,  sin-burdened,  sin-ruined 
soul  is  transformed  by  the  transfusion  of  a  new 
life,  the  life-blood  of  God's  only  begotten  son,  and 
thus  made  to  sit  with  him  in  heavenly  places.  Is 
it  any  wonder  that  such  a  changed  life,  and  the 
hope  that  it  begets  of  final  and  complete  conform- 

299 


The  Exalted  Life 

ity  to  this  {glorified  life  as  now  seen  in  the  risen  and 
highly  exalted  one,  should  find  expression  in  a 
continuous  effort  to  be  like  it  by  purifying  itself? 
"Every  one  that  hath  this  hope  in  him  purificth 
himself,  even  as  he  is  pure." 

Here  we  have  co-operation,  the  human  working 
with  the  divine.  No  one  can  be  pure  that  does  not 
so  will  and  so  work.  It  is  God  that  does  the  cleans- 
ing; but  there  must  be  full  conformity  to  the  divine 
order  of  living.  ''Be  ye  clean  that  bear  the  vessels 
of  the  Lord,  is  the  requirement  made  of  his  work- 
men. 

At  this  point  I  want  to  note  two  very  definite  but 
antithetical  requirements  in  the  development  of 
Christian  life  and  character.  The  first  relates  to 
the  putting  off  of  certain  characteristics  that  can  in 
no  way  be  related  to  the  life  that  is  patterned  after 
Christ.  Paul  first  speaks  of  certain  things  that  must 
be  put  off,  before  this  new,  divine,  heavenly  vesture 
can  be  put  on. 

By  reason  of  their  death  and  resurrection  in 
Christ,  the  Colossian  Christians  were  exhorted  to 
conform  their  outward  life  to  the  hidden  Christ 
within,  in  order  to  reveal  him  as  the  manifested 
Christ.  This  "new  man"  must  take  the  place  of  the 
"old  man,"  and  so  must  be  robed  in  an  attire  expres- 
sive of  change  of  character. 

The  great  achievement  of  Christian  living  is  to 
give  Christ  a  chance  to  reveal  himself  in  and 
through  his  followers  to  the  world.  Jesus  said  of 
himself  that  he  was  the  light  of  the  world.  He 
said  the  same  thing  of  his  disciples,  and  then  com- 
manded them  to  let  their  light  so  shine  before  men, 

300 


The  Costume  and  Custom  Becoming  the  New  Man 

that  they  might  see  their  good  works,  and  thereby 
be  led  to  glorify  their  Father  which  is  in  heaven. 
A  sound  creed  is  a  good  thing  to  hang  the  Church's 
teachings  on,  safe  and  sane  teachings  are  very  il- 
luminating and  convincing;  but  the  life  lived,  the 
outward  conduct  of  those  professing  relationship 
with  the  body  of  Christ,  his  Church,  is  most  con- 
vincing, being  beyond  the  reach  and  power  of  all 
human  logic  to  deal  with.  When  Paul  wanted  a 
vindication  for  himself  and  his  work  he  turned  to 
his  converts,  saying,  "Ye  are  our  epistle  written  in 
our  hearts,  known  and  read  of  all  men."  Here  is 
a  letter  that  everybody  can  read  and  understand. 
Paul  declares  this  letter  to  be  the  epistle  of  Christ, 
written  not  with  ink,  but  with  the  Spirit  of  the  liv- 
ing God.  Here  authorship  is  clearly  identified. 
Read  these  lines  if  you  want  to  know  who  wrote 
this  epistle.  There  is  only  one  that  can  write  such 
an  epistle.  In  character  and  form  it  is  inimitable. 
This  is  the  epistle  read  of  all  men.  It  is  open  and 
most  challenging  to  human  reason  and  to  human 
prejudice. 

The  conduct  of  Christians  will  be  read  with  an 
avidity  and  criticalness,  by  an  ungodly  world,  with 
which  the  reading  of  the  Bible  by  the  average 
Church  member  will  not  compare.  How  all-impor- 
tant, then,  these  living  examples  of  Christian  life 
and  doctrine,  in  these  days  when  the  necessity  is  so 
great  for  the  distinction  between  truth  and  error, 
right  and  wrong,  being  made  so  clear  as  to  allow 
of  no  deception.  Possibly  the  methods  of  error 
were  never  more  subtle  than  now.  Even  God's 
very  elect  are  in  danger  of  deception.     There  arc 

301 


The  Exalted  Life 

multitudes  of  honest,  studious  readers  and  believers 
in  the  Word  of  God  that  are  not  able  to  wisely 
apply  it  when  face  to  face  with  the  subtle  workings 
of  sataniic  agencies.  Fatal  snares  and  pitfalls 
abound  on  all  sides.  Chief  among  these  is  New 
Thought,  Spiritualism,  Theosophy,  Millennial 
Dawnism,  and  Christian  Science.  All  these  profess 
to  accept  the  Bible,  but  so  pervert  its  teaching  as 
to  make  it  an  agent  of,  and  a  pathway  to  destruc- 
tion. 

On  this  line,  the  outward  expression  of  the  life 
within  as  seen  in  the  conduct  and  habits  that  obtain, 
are  most  determining  as  to  the  character  of  that 
life.  The  old  man  has  his  deeds,  which  in  nature 
are  just  like  himself,  and  must  be  feloniously  dealt 
with.  The  old  man  is  the  fountain  head  from 
which  this  black,  foul,  and  ugly  stream  flows.  The 
stream  can  never  be  better  than  that  from  which  it 
issues.  This  fountain  has  many  outgoing  tribu- 
taries, designated  as  "members,"  all  of  which  must 
meet  with  destruction. 

The  classification  issuing  from  this  fountain, 
"fornication,  uncleanness,  inordinate  affection,  evil 
concupiscence,  and  covetousness."  These  cover  the 
wide  realm  of  impure  desire  and  the  open  field  of 
gross  activity.  Here  passion,  desire,  appetite  and 
look,  exercise  their  very  enchanting  and  bewitching 
influence  on  the  animal  nature.  These  evil  tenden- 
cies must  be  put  to  death,  "mortified."  In  addi- 
tion there  are  certain  practices  that  must  cease,  be 
put  off,  such  as  "anger,  wrath,  malice,  blasphemy, 
and  filthy  communication."  All  sin  may  be  charac- 
terized as  either  earthly,  sensual,  or  devilish.    Some 

302 


The  Costume  and  Custom  Becoming  the  New  Man 

sins  are  earthly,  giving  supreme  place  to  material 
things;  making  a  god  of  this  world,  which  is 
idolatry.  Other  sins  are  more  largely  sensual,  living 
a  life  of  the  senses,  living  to  gratify  the  appetites 
and  lusts  of  the  flesh  and  the  soul.  And  still  other 
sins  are  devilish,  of  which  malice  may  be  taken 
as  being  the  most  distinguishing.  It  is  as  frigid  as 
the  north  pole,  as  clear  as  crystal,  as  iiery  as  sul- 
phuric acid,  and  as  explosive  as  dynamite.  It  is 
surely   devilish. 

We  now  come  more  especially  to  the  puttings 
on.  This  is  the  brighter  and  the  more  joyous  as- 
pect of  this  transformation.  It  is  leaving  the  side 
of  wreckage,  ruin,  shame,  and  despair,  for  the  one 
recovery,  a  glorious  and  joyous  hope.  It  is  putting 
off  the  old  for  the  new.  How  glad  and  delightful 
this  exchange  of  the  old  sin-soiled  robe  for  one  of 
purity  and  whiteness  ought  to  be — the  "filthy  gar- 
ments" for  the  "robe  of  righteousness."  Here  the 
picture  changes  from  the  darkest  ebony  to'  the 
brightness  of  the  purest  light;  from  the  darkest 
midnight  to  the  radiance  of  a  cloudless  noonday. 

It  is  easily  noticeable  in  reading  Paul's  descrip- 
tion of  the  modes  of  living  here  depicted  that  the 
one  far  outmeasures  the  other,  not  only  in  charac- 
ter and  quality,  which  must  be  true,  but  in  the 
measure,  the  aggregate  of  the  acquired  in  lieu  of 
the  surrendered.  In  other  words,  the  puttings  on 
are  in  excess  of  the  puttings  off,  the  recovery  great- 
er than  the  loss,  redemption  than  the  ruin,  regener- 
ation than  degeneration,  salvation  than  sin.  The 
plaster  is  larger  than  the  sore.  Where  sin  abounded, 
grace    did    much    more    abound."       'T    came    that 

303 


The  Exalted  Life 

they  might  have  Hfe,  and  that  they  might  have  it 
more  abundantly."  (John  10:  10.)  The  Eden 
restored  is  to  be  greater  than  the  Eden  lost.  We 
are  to  be  "more  than  conquerors  through  him  that 
loved  us."  Jesus  is  more  than  a  match  for  Satan, 
and  all  who  accept  Christ,  and  make  him  their  life, 
will  have  a  life  and  an  achievement  greater  than 
the  first  Adam  lost.  The  image  restored  will  be 
greater  than  the  image  in  which  man  was  created, 
because  it  is  in  the  very  essence,  the  very  substance 
of  God  himself.  Man  at  the  first  was  created  *'a 
little  lower  than  the  angels,"  and  for  the  purpose 
of  redeeming  man,  Christ  took  his  place  on  that 
human  plane ;  but  in  his  essential,  substantial  exist- 
ence, he  was  higher  than  the  angels,  the  very  divine 
One :  Paul  speaking  of  this  and  of  him  says,  "Who 
being  the  brightness  of  his  glory,  and  the  express  im- 
age of  his  person  [substance],  and  upholding  all 
things  by  the  word  of  his  power,  when  he  had  himself 
purged  our  sins,  sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of  the 
Majesty  on  high;  being  made  so  much  better  than 
the  angels,  as  he  hath  by  inheritance  obtanied  a 
more  excellent  name  than  they."  (Hebrews  1 :  3, 
4.)  In  the  eighth  verse  of  this  chapter,  Christ  is 
called  God.  "But  unto  the  son  he  saith,  thy  throne, 
O  God,  is  for  ever  and  ever."  In  Hebrews  2 : 9, 
10,  11,  the  purpose  of  Christ's  humiliation  is  fully 
expressed,  and  also  the  exalted  unity  between  him- 
self and  God's  sons :  "For  both  he  that  sanctifieth 
and  they  who  are  sanctified  are  all  of  one." 

Man  in  his  creation  was  in  the  sphere  of,  and  re- 
lated to  the  earthly ;  but  in  his  final  restoration 
he  passes  into  the  wholly  spiritual,  even  his  body 

304 


The  Costume  and  Custom  Becoming  the  New  Man 

is  to  be  spiritualized,  so  that  nothing  of  the  material 
creation  is  to  inhere  in  his  being. 

Man  in  passing  into  the  new  life  from  the  old 
is  like  winter  passing  into  spring  and  summer. 
Everything  flows  and  floods  into  new,  abounding 
life.  Christ  "is  able  to  do  exceeding  abundantly 
above  all  that  we  ask  or  think."  It  abounds  above 
all  that  we  can  ask.  Then  it  abounds  above  all  that 
we  can  think.  Then,  finally,  it  abounds  exceeding 
abundantly  above  all  asking  or  thinking,  and  all 
is  guaranteed  by  the  divine  ability,  "God  is  able." 
It  outmeasures  all  asking,  it  transcends  all  thinking, 
and  then  passes  into  the  abundantly  above  all  mental 
and  spiritual  capacities  to  grasp  or  comprehend.  The 
peace  that  he  gives  "passeth  all  understanding." 
The  joy  that  he  imparts  is  "unspeakable  and  full 
of  glory." 

God  has  a  wonderful  way  of  rewarding  his  child- 
ren for  every  effort  they  put  forth  to  be  like  his 
son.  Every  noble  thought  of  the  mind  goes  to  the 
enriching  of  the  heart.  The  character  of  the  think- 
ing determines  the  drift  of  the  moral  life.  Thought 
creates  sentiment  in  harmony  with  itself,  which 
sentiment  strengthens  with  the  multiplicity  and  con- 
tinuity of  the  thinking.  This  ought  to  be  well  con- 
sidered by  every  Christian.  It  is  evidently  the 
reason  for  Paul's  exhortation  to  set  the  mind  on 
things  above.  This  will  carry  the  whole  inner  life 
upward.  It  is  the  real  secret  of  heart-culture. 
There  is  nothing  in  those  serene  and  heavenly 
heights  to  debase  and  debauch  the  life.  To  be 
healthy  and  strong  we  must  climb  the  mountain 
heights  and  live  where  the  pure  winds  ever  blow. 

305 


The  Exalted  Life 

There  no  poisonous  breath  ever  sweeps,  and  no 
nightshade  ever  sheds  its  noxious  odors.  No  wreck- 
age, no  broken  hearts,  no  tempting  devil,  up  there. 
No  hunger,  no  thirst,  no  sickness,  no  flowing  tears  in 
that  heavenly  city.  It  ought  not  be  hard  to  ''set 
the  mind  on  things  above."  All  the  chief  attrac- 
tions are  there.  Christ  is  there,  and  he  is  ''the  chief- 
est  among  ten  thousand :  yea,  he  is  altogether  love- 
ly." In  his  resurrection  and  ascension  he  carried 
the  life  and  the  hope  of  his  whole  Church  up  with 
him  into  the  heavenlies.  The  departed  saints  of  all 
the  ages  are  there,  and  this  includes  our  kindred 
that  departed  years  ago,  that  died  in  the  Lord. 
Our  own  life  is  there  now,  "hid  with  Christ  in  God." 
How  this  ought  to  wean  us  away  from  the  things  on 
the  earth.  This  his  reappearance  and  our  associa- 
tion with  him  in  that  appearance,  ought  to  be 
ever  alluring  and  attractive  beyond  all  earthly 
things.  He  is  safeguarding  the  life  of  his  saints 
during  all  tribulations  through  which  they  must 
pass,  so  that  none  of  them  may  be  finally  lost. 
Jesus  told  his  Father  in  that  wonderful  prayer  in 
the  seventeenth  chapter  of  St.  John,  that  he  had 
kept  all  that  had  been  committed  unto  him,  and 
that  none  had  been  lost  except  "the  son  of  perdi- 
tion." He  prayed  for  Peter  that  his  faith  might 
be  equal  to  the  wiles  of  Satan,  that  it  might  not 
fail. 

This  marvelous  attraction  from  above,  resulting 
in  a  daily  renewing  of  the  mind  and  the  transform- 
ing of  the  life,  is  the  fitness  for  our  appearance  with 
Christ  when  he  returns.  Paul  says,  "When  Christ, 
who   is   our  life,   shall  appear,   then   shall  ye  also 

306 


The  Costiiiiie  and  Custom  Becoming  the  New  j\ian 

appear  with  him  in  glory."  Until  then  we  must 
keep  ourselves  arrayed  in  a  vesture  corresponding 
to  what  is  required  of  the  new  man,  "the  elect  of 
God,   holy  and  beloved." 

Let  us  now  note  the  various  parts,  or  pieces, 
of  this  divine  pattern  to  be  worn  on  earth  by 
those  morally  and  spiritually  alive  in  Christ.  While 
they  are  grouped  together  and  closely  related  to 
each  other  as  parts  of  a  grand  whole,  yet  each 
has  a  distinct  setting  in  the  description  given  and 
must  be  so  considered  in  cultivation  and  prac- 
tice. 

The  first,  in  the  order  as  given,  is  "hozvels  of 
mercies.''  This  may  v»-ell  be  understood  to  mean 
a  heart  of  tenderness,  pity,  compassion.  How 
much  need  there  is  of  such  a  heart  in  order  to  rep- 
resent the  life  and  the  Spirit  of  Christ.  As  our 
high  priest,  he  is  touched  with  the  feelings  of  our 
infirmites.  If  he  were  not,  where  would  be  hope 
for  any  of  us?  Having  been  made  sin  for  us,  and 
because  he  himself  is  true  man,  he  is  able  to 
sympathize  with  sin-weakened  and  sin-wrecked  hu- 
manity. By  his  sufferings,  his  prayers,  tears,  and 
temptations,  he  is  able  to  absolve  the  sorrowing, 
sin-stricken,  repentant  sinner. 

We  all  need  such  a  high  priest;  and  there  is 
also  the  need  of  such  a  spirit  of  compassion  from 
and  between  his  followers.  With  sin  on  every  hand, 
and  with  personal  weakness  increasing  and  multi- 
plying, it  is  not  always  easy  to  "put  on"  this  sym- 
pathetic spirit,  and  wear  it  on  all  occasions  and 
display  it  in  the  face  of  all  the  obstructions  that  tend 
to   hinder   its    free   outflow.     There   are    sins   that 

307 


the  Exalted  Lifie 

are  so  flagrant,  defiant,  demon-like,  that  no  ordi- 
nary spirit,  however  well  purposed,  can  withstand. 
It  is  only  when  we  make  another's  sorrows,  mis- 
fortunes, and  sins  ours,  that  we  can  exercise  real 
tact  and  true  sympathy  in  dealing  out  the  help 
that  will  be  the  binding  up  of  wounds  and  the  heal- 
ing of  hearts  that  are  broken. 

The  expression,  "bowels  of  mercies,"  is  a  very 
strong  and  significant  figure.  It  is  expressive  of  a 
generative,  conservative,  constructive,  and  distribu- 
tive force,  and  is  most  controlling  in  the  physical 
economy.  So  the  spirit  of  pity  is  to  be  abounding 
in  its  exercise,  putting  under  its  sway  every  avenue 
of  thought  and  every  agent  of  outward  expression 
to  the  end  and  object  of  helpful  ministry. 

The  next  in  the  order  is  "kindness."  No  one  can 
estimate  the  power  of  this  part  of  the  outward 
adorning  of  the  Christian  character.  If  we  take 
up  the  real  significance  and  force  of  this  word  and 
apply  it  to  the  use  and  end  aimed  at,  it  will  be  most 
illuminating  and  helpful.  It  embraces  the  idea  of 
kinship,  of  relationship,  of  family  ties.  So  it 
means  "put  on  the  spirit  of  relationship." 

How  easy  it  is  to  exercise  this  spirit  toward  a 
brother,  a  sister,  or  father  and  mother.  If  the 
family  relationship  is  normal  it  is  a  delight  to  exer- 
cise this  grace  in  its  broadest  and  fullest  sense. 
There  is  no  room  too  good  in  the  home,  no  bed 
too  costly  or  too  rare,  no  table  too  delicately  or 
sumptuously  spread,  to  give  to  the  use  and  comfort 
of  kindred.  Then  how  easy  it  is  to  excuse  the 
faults  and  failings,  even  the  sins  that  corrupt  the 
life  and  debase  the  character  of  a  brother  or  of 

308 


The  Costume  and  Custom  Becomiing  the  New  Man 

a  child.  There  is  no  journey  too  long  to  take,  no 
cold  too  severe  to  endure,  no  storm  too  wild  to 
face,  and  no  danger  too  great  to  hazard,  if  for  the 
comfort  and  life  of  a  loved  one. 

So,  put  on  the  spirit  of  kinship,  and  then  the 
exercise  of  kindness  will  be  easy.  If  this  is  true 
in  the  human  relationship,  in  the  merely  earthly 
life,  how  much  mo*-e  real  and  forcible  it  ought  to 
be  in  the  divine,  the  heavenly  relationship.  The 
merely  earthly  relationship  is  only  for  time,  and 
must  end  where  this  life  ends;  but  the  spiritual  is 
eternal  and  will  last  during  the  age  of  the  ages. 
Then,  all  earthly  ties  are  weak,  being  earthly,  the 
heavenly  have  the  strength  of  the  divine,  and  so 
ought  to  be  easier  to  cultivate  and  harder  to  sunder. 
Jesus  taught  the  superiority  of  the  one  over  the 
other  when  he  made  the  love  for  earthly  kindred 
subordinate  to  love  for  him.  '*He  that  loveth  father 
or  mother  more  than  me,   is  not  worthy  of  me." 

The  next  in  the  order  is  humility,  ''humbleness 
of  mind."  This  is  the  very  foundation  grace  on 
which  to  build  or  ground  the  exercise  of  all  the 
graces  in  our  personal  intercourse  with  others.  It 
is  our  attitude  more  especially  manward.  Literal- 
ly, it  puts  one  very  close  to  the  ground,  indicating 
his  earthly  origin  and  relationship.  Being  of  the 
earth,  earthly,  there  is  little  occasion  for  boasting 
as  to  origin  or  personal  achievements.  It  must  be 
granted  in  this  connection  that  lowly-mindedness 
is  not  blindness  to,  or  an  underestimation  of  real 
personal  merit,  or  the  ability  to  achieve  world- 
famed  results.  To  be  humble,  one  does  not  have  to 
discount  his  own  ability  to  be  or  to  do.     Talents 

309 


The  Exalted  Life 

should  be  estimated,  prized,  and  improved.  Not  to 
do  so  is  to  do  like  the  'Svicked  and  slothful  servant" 
that  hid  his  lord's  monty  in  the  earth,  and  then  had 
to  reckon  for  the  trust  empty-handed. 

There  is  a  kind  of  professed  humility  that  is 
as  wide  of  the  mark,  and  as  different  from  the  real, 
as  night  is  from  day,  as  sickness  is  from  health. 
It  is  a  kind  of  self -deprecation,  abnegation  of  abil- 
ity, discounting  all  personal  merit,  posing  in  an  ab- 
normal attire,  and  decrying  all  styles  of  dress  except 
the  one,  and  of  that  one  the  most  adherent 
supporter  and  defender.  It  is  possible  for  one  to 
be  vain  over  one's  plainness  and  simplicity,  and 
ever  proud  of  one's  humility. 

When  one  poses  in  a  certain  style  of  dress  sim- 
ply for  display,  or  to  attract  public  attention,  we 
may  well  nominate  that  one  as  a  fashionmonger, 
and  in  no  way  related  to  that  method  of  adorning 
described  by  Peter  in  the  words,  "Whose  adorning 
let  it  not  be  that  outward  adorning  of  plaiting  the 
hair,  and  of  wearing  of  gold,  or  of  putting  on  of 
apparel ;  but  let  it  be  the  hidden  man  of  the  heart, 
in  that  which  is  not  corruptible,  even  the  ornaments 
of  a  meek  and  quiet  spirit,  which  is  in  the  sight  of 
God  of  great  price."     (I.  Peter  3:3,  4.) 

What  is  hidden  in  the  heart  will  usually  find  ex- 
pression outwardly  in  the  life,  and  so  in  a  sense  may 
be  regarded  as  a  profession.  A  meek  and  quiet 
spirit  will  not  seek  manifestation  in  sensual  dis- 
play. It  will  avoid  public  attraction  and  attention. 
The  real  beauty  of  attire  is  that  which  is  so  simple 
and  neat,  in  both  its  cost  and  its  make-up,  as  not 
to  challenge  the  inspections  of  captious  eyes.    Really 

310 


The  Costume  and  Custom  Becoming  the  New  Man 

SO  free  from  verging  on  the  extremes  of  either  sim- 
plicity or  display  that  no  one  knows,  in  a  given  case 
the  habitude  of  the  individual.  This  should  be 
the  method  adopted  by  the  followers  of  the  meek 
and  lowly  Jesus. 

What,  after  all,  has  mortal  man  to  be  proud  of? 
Born  with  a  debased  nature,  "conceived  in  sin  and 
shapen  in  iniquity,"  more  helpless  in  his  beginning- 
life  than  the  swine  in  the  mire  or  the  dog  at  his 
feet.  Homes  in  the  heart  the  foulest  impulses 
which,  when  worked  out  in  the  life,  issue  in  a  char- 
acter allied  to  that  of  demons.  In  physical  ex- 
posure and  condition,  can  be  ''clothed  with  worms 
and  clods  of  dust,"  skin  be  "broken,  and  become 
lothsome,"  with  days  passing  "swifter  than  a  weav- 
er's shuttle,  and  spent  without  hope."  On  this  line 
one  of  old  exclaimed,  "I  have  said  to  corruption, 
Thou  art  my  father;  to  the  worm,  thou  art  my 
mother,  and  my  sister."  (Job  17:14.)  We  shall 
all  at  last  "lie  down  alike  in  the  dust,  and  the  worms 
shall  cover  us."    Can  such  a  mortal  man  be  proud? 

As  far  as  the  natural  and  earthly  life  is  con- 
cerned, there  is  nothing  to  stimulate  and  encour- 
age a  vain  demeanor.  The  beggar  and  the  million- 
aire both  are  alike.  It  may  be  said  of  each,  "what 
hast  thou  that  thou  hast  not  received?"  Equally 
true  of  each  as  to  moral  standing.  Both  have 
sinned  and  stand  condemned  before  the  judgment 
seat  of  God. 

The  chief  and  most  appealing  reason  for 
putting  on  the  grace  of  humility  is  that  this  is 
one  of  the  very  marked  and  distinguishing  qualities 
that  adorned  the  life  of  Jesus.     He  said  of  himself 

3X1 


The  Exalted  Life 

that  he  was  "meek  and  lowly  in  heart."  If  he, 
"King  of  kings,  and  Lord  of  lords,"  was  thus 
lowly  for  our  fellowship  with  him  and  as  our  ex- 
ample, how  can  we  be  imitators  of  him  in  any 
other  than  a  like  spirit?  "He  resisteth  the  proud; 
but  he  giveth  grace  to  the  humble."  "Though  the 
Lord  is  high,  yet  hath  he  respect  unto  the  lowly: 
but  the  proud  he  knoweth  afar  off."  (Psalms  138: 
6.)  "He  hateth  a  proud  look."  "A  proud  heart 
is  an  abomination  to  the  Lord."  "A  proud  heart  is 
sin."  These  Scriptures  are  all-conclusive,  and  must 
be  reckoned  with  by  those  that  profess  to  follow 
the  Man  of  Nazareth. 

Another  adornment  that  must  be  put  on  is  ''meek- 
ness.'' This  grace  is  more  especially  the  Christian's 
attitude  Godward.  It  is  the  sweet,  quiet,  peaceable, 
teachable  spirit.  It  stands  as  the  opposite  of  a 
bluffy,  grouty,  cynical,  warlike,  unteachable  spirit. 
This  is  the  grace  that  is  set  to  win  in  the  kingdom 
of  God,  and  to  establish  an  empire  unlike  any 
other  in  the  world.  This  weapon  is  not  carnal ; 
but  it  must  be  confessed  to  be  mighty  to  the  pulling 
down  of  strongholds.  Worldly  force,  the  strong 
and  merciless  arm  of  war,  is  the  world's  agent 
of  conquest.  It  is  the  self-assertive,  the  strong- 
willed,  the  "roughrider,"  that  is  dubbed  the  success- 
ful man ;  while  the  meek  man  is  classed  as  effem- 
inate, mild,  yielding  to  every  adverse  current;  with 
no  stamina,  no  backbone,  nothing  to  say  in  self- 
defense,  a  sort  of  characterless  jelly-fish. 

Such  is  the  world's  estimate  of  a  meek  and 
quiet  life,  and  yet  Jesus  pronounced  a  blessing  upon 
it  and  made  its  possessors  heritors  of  the  earth.    In 

312 


The  Costume  and  Custom  Becoming  the  New  Man 

Christ's  life  it  was  a  ruling  principle.  He  conld 
have  marshaled  the  legions  of  angels  in  his  de- 
fense; but  ''as  a  lamb  he  was  lead  to  the 
slaughter;  as  a  sheep  is  dumb  before  her 
shearers,  so  he  opened  not  his  mouth."  *'He 
answered  not  a  word"  when  reviled  and  spit 
upon.  But  to-day  he  is  the  true  king  of  millions 
of  hearts,  whose  deepest  affections  are  given  to  him. 
He  is  the  mightiest  among  all  kings,  and  his  domin- 
ion is  an  everlasting  dominion,  and  of  his  king- 
dom there  shall  be  no  end.  "There  is  meekness  that 
is  mere  weakness,"  as  a  certain  writer  has  said ; 
but  this  is  not  so  of  Christ's. 

A  man  may  be  meek,  but  he  can  have  muscle, 
fiber,  brain,  will,  push,  grit,  abounding  energy,  all 
in  usQ  for  noble,  worthy,  unselfish  ends.  He  will 
not  override  weakness,  crush  rivals  in  business,  be 
indifferent  to  the  rights  of  others,  nor  live  in  dis- 
regard of  what  is  honest,  honorable,  high,  and  holy. 

Is  it  any  wonder  that  Paul  put  this  grace  among 
the  things  that  were  to  adorn  the  lives  of  the  early 
Christians?  Is  it  not  strange  that  all  of  the  fol- 
lowers of  Jesus  are  not  deeply  anxious  to  put  it 
on  and  passionately  fond  of  wearing  it?  So  the 
writer  asks  himself.  What  an  adornment  to  the 
individual  life!  What  a  sweet  atmosphere  for 
the  home !  What  a  force  in  the  social  life  of  the 
Church ! 

We  now  consider  another  part  of  this  attire  that 
is  to  be  worn,  "longsuffering."  Here  we  come  to  a 
grace  that  must  extend,  be  prolonged  and  endured. 
It  means  suffer  long,  and  then  suffer  some  more, 
theii  extend  it  indefinitely.     It  must  not  soon  wear 

313 


The  Exalted  Life 

out.  It  must  ever  be  multiplying  and  increasing  as 
the  occasion  and  the  needs  demand.  If  meekness 
endures  without  complaining  or  resistance,  this 
grace  is  to  hold  out  against  long  continued  griev- 
ance, temptations,  and  sufferings,  without  yielding 
to  the  spirit  of  resentment  or  harshness. 

How  in  harmony  with  all  this  is  the  "charity  that 
suffereth  long,  and  yet  is  kind."  It  "is  not  easily 
provoked."  "It  beareth  all  things — and  endureth 
all  things." 

It  is  like  the  patient,  weary  watcher  at  the  bed- 
side of  sickness,  seemingly  never  able  to  suffer  or 
do  enough  for  the  object  of  devotion.  It  is  like  the 
loving  mother  who  wishes  she  might  have  had  one 
more  night  of  sleepless  vigilance  to  prove  her  love 
for  the  one  that  is  gone.  It  is  like  the  first  Chris- 
tian martyr,  Stephen,  while  being  stoned  to  death, 
crying  with  a  loud  voice,  "Lord,  lay  not  this  sin 
to  their  charge."  It  is  like  Jesus  when  suffering 
on  the  cross  saying,  "Father,  forgive  them ;  for  they 
know  not  what  they  do." 

Finally,  we  come  to  the  very  practical,  the  exer- 
cise of  the  last  two  virtues  in  mention,  forbearance, 
and  forgiveness.  "Forbearing  one  another  and  for- 
giving one  another."  Here  one  assumes  the  burden 
of  a  wrong  and  carries  it  away  from  the  occasion 
that  gave  rise  to  it,  and  thus  puts  it  into  oblivion, 
like  the  scapegoat  that  was  sent  into  the  wilderness. 
Here  no  violence,  like  taking  life,  is  to  be  used. 
This,  coupled  with  forgiveness,  is  putting  away,  and 
that  forever,  all  enmity  and  malice  from  the  heart. 

That  there  may  be  occasions  for  differences  and 
just  grounds  for  complaints,  owing  to  human  weak- 

314 


The  Costume  aiid  Custom  Becoming -the  New  Man 

nesses,  must  be  admitted.  The  remedy  here,  in  the 
face  of  admitted  and  well  verified  wrongs,  is  that 
of  forgiveness.  This  is  especially  true  when  at- 
tended by  confession  and  repentance.  On  this  line 
Jesus  gives  warning  and  counsel.  He  said  to  his 
disciples,  "Take  heed  to  yourselves :  If  thy  brother 
trespass  against  thee,  rebuke  him ;  and  if  he  re- 
pent, forgive  him,  And  if  he  trespass  against  thee 
seven  times  in  a  day,  and  seven  times  in  a  day  turn 
again  to  thee,  saying,  I  repent;  thou  shalt  for- 
give him."     (Luke  17:    3,  4.) 

As  to  the  manner  and  character  of  this  forgive- 
ness, Christ  himself  is  our  pattern.  "Even  as  Christ 
forgave  you,  so  also  do  ye,"  are  Paul's  words. 
Much  of  human  forgiveness  is  superficial,  tenta- 
tive, conditional.  For  the  moment  it  passes  for 
forgiveness ;  but  on  a  new  offense,  or  a  repeti- 
tion of  the  old,  the  former  grudge  returns  and  is 
held  as  if  never  forgiven.  A  dying  man  forgave 
his  neighbor  for  a  certain  offense  on  the  condition 
that  if  he  died  it  was  to  be  regarded  as  settled, 
but  if  he  got  well  the  old  spite  was  to  stand. 

This  is  not  the  instruction  that  Jesus  gave  on 
forgiveness,  nor  like  the  pattern  he  set ;  it  is  not  the 
way  he  forgave  us.  He  not  only  forgives,  but  he 
forgets  the  sins  that  are  forgiven.  Of  course,  God 
cannot  forget;  but  he  does  not  remember  the  sin 
against  the  one  that  is  forgiven.  wSins  forgiven  are 
treated  as  if  never  committed.  David  prayed.  "Re- 
member not  the  sins  of  my  youth,  nor  my  trans- 
gressions." "Remember  not  against  us  former 
iniquities."  The  Lord  said  to  Isaiah,  "I,  even  I, 
am  he  that  blotteth  out  thy  transgressions  for  mine 

315 


The  Exalted  Life 

own  sake,  and  will  not  remember  thy  sins."  (Isaiah 
43:25.) 

This  is  the  divine  method  of  forgiveness,  and  it 
should  be  ours. 

We  now  come  to  the  most  essential  part  of  this 
metaphor,  that  on  which  every  other  article  in  this 
attire  depends,  and  without  which  it  would  not  be 
perfect,  and  that  is  love.  "And  above  all  these 
things,  put  on  charity,  which  is  the  bond  of  perfect- 
ness."  This  bond,  band,  or  girdle,  put  on,  around, 
and  over  all,  is  essential  to  keep  all  the  other  arti- 
cles in  their  places,  and  tlius  strengthen  and  unify 
all  into  a  perfect  whole,  "a  perfect  man  in  Christ 
Jesus,"  Deeds  may  be  done,  words  may  be  spoken, 
sufifering  endured,  sacrifices  made,  and  even  kind- 
ness shown,  that  primarily  do  not  issue  from  a 
heart  of  love,  and  so  have  no  guarantee  of  contin- 
uance. This  beautiful  girdle  keeps  everything  in 
order,  constituting  a  beautiful  symmetry  of  figure, 
a  graceful  composure  in  spirit  and  manner,  and  thus 
makes  all  into  a  harmonious  completeness  of 
Christian  character. 

Christian  love  is  not  a  wild  emotionalism.  It  does 
not  go  into  outward  spasms,  a  fair  frenzy  of  physi- 
cal manifestations.  That  kind  of  love  belongs  more 
really  to  the  carnal  than  to  the  divine  side  of  life. 
It  is  shallow,  fragmentary,  easily  excited,  and  easily 
allayed.  It  easily  and  suddenly  goes  into  the  ple- 
thoric or  into  scantiness,  just  as  conditions  or  oc- 
casions change  and  determine.  Divine  love  is  not 
so.  It  is  quiet,  deep,  abiding.  "It  doth  not  be- 
have itself  unseemly,  is  not  easily  provoked,  bear- 
clh  all  things,  endureth  all  things,  never  faileth." 

316 


The  Costume  and  Custom  Becoming  the  New  Man 

Of  the  three  abiding  graces,  faith,  hope,  and  love, 
love  is  the  greatest. 

The  secret  of  this  marvelous  Christian  life  and 
character  is,  first  put  on  this  new  man,  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  then  by  'daily  effort,  through  all 
the  years,  put  on  the  clothing  that  belongs  to 
that  life,  the  graces  of  the  Holy  Spirits 

x'^nd  now,  finally,  to  conserve  all  this  life  and 
to  keep  it  ever  abounding,  there  are  two  "lets" 
that  must  be  observed.  "Let  the  peace  of  God  rule 
in  your  hearts,  and  let  the  word  of  Christ  dwell  in 
you  richly  in  all  wisdom." 

What  is  the  peace  of  God?  If  we  turn  to  the 
fourteenth  chapter  of  St.  John,  we  will  find  an  en- 
larged and  quite  full  expression  of  it.  Jesus  was 
soon  to  be  under  the  shadow  of  the  olive  trees  in 
Gethsemane,  and  this  foreboding  filled  the  hearts  of 
the  disciples  with  deep  sorrow.  To  relieve  them 
in  this  hour  of  their  grief  he  said,  "Let  not  your 
hearts  be  troubled :  ye  believe  in  God,  believe  also 
in  me."  In  the  event  of  his  departure,  he  told 
them  that  another  comforter  would  be  sent  them, 
and  that  he  would  abide  with  them  forever;  even 
the  spirit  of  truth.  To  further  comfort  them  he 
says,  "Peace  I  leave  with  you,  my  peace  I  give  un- 
to you :  not  as  tiie  world  giveth,  give  I  unto  you." 
What  a  rich  legacy  to  leave  to  these  grief -stricken, 
orphaned  disciples.  He  called  it  "my  peace,"  but 
he  gave  it  to  them.  "In  the  world  ye  shall  have 
tribulation ;  but  in  me  ye  shall  have  peace." 

It  was  the  Holy  Spirit  that  was  to  communicate 
and  make  perpetual  this  peace.  This  is  well  sym- 
bolized by  the  form  in  which  the  Holy  Spirit  made 

317 


The  Exalted  Life 

his  appearance  in  the  world.  In  the  days  of  Noah, 
when  the  waters  were  being  assuaged,  it  was  a  dove 
that  brought  the  symbol  of  peace,  the  olive  leaf. 
The  raven  went  out  never  to  return.  It  could  home 
itself  in  a  world  of  corruption,  and  live  off  the  de- 
caying and  putrifying  carcasses  that  everywhere 
covered  the  face  of  the  earth.  Not  so  with  the  pure, 
sensitive  dove.  It  came  back  into  the  ark  for 
a  resting-place  until  the  purified  earth  furnished 
it  with  a  home. 

When  Jesus  was  baptized  the  Holy  Spirit  de- 
scended like  a  dove  and  lighted  upon  him.  Until 
this  the  Holy  Spirit  had  no  permanent  resting-place 
Like  the  homeless  dove  it  came  and  went.  But 
when  Jesus,  God's  only  Son,  entered  upon  his  work, 
this  divine  messenger  joined  him,  and  became  his 
guide,  leader,  and  teacher.  As  man,  Jesus  commit- 
ted himself  to  this  leadership,  and  empowered  by 
him  wrought  his  wonderful  works,  and  enlightened 
by  him  taught  as  no  doctor  of  the  law  ever  taught, 
and  spake  as  never  man  spake. 

When  Jesus  went  away  into  the  heavens,  he  sent 
the  Holy  Spirit  into  the  world  to  organize  the 
Church,  which  was  to  be  his  body,  and  to  empower 
the  Church  for  its  work  in  the  world's  redemption. 
Pentecost  was  the  crowning  day  as  the  beginning 
of  that  work.  The  symbols  here  were  those  of 
power,  "a.  rushing  mighty  wind,"  and  "cloven 
tongues  like  as  of  fire." 

This  was  the  inauguration  day  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
as  the  executive  of  the  Godhead,  and  Peter,  to  whom 
the  keys  for  the  opening  of  the  kingdom  to  both 
Jews  and  Gentiles  were  committed,  delivered  the 

318 


The  Costume  and  Custom  Becoming  the  New  Man 

inaugural  address.  Here  the  Holy  Spirit  filled  the 
scene,  and  made  the  day  the  archetype,  as  to  spirit- 
ual power,  of  all  the  days  that  were  to  follow. 

While  the  Holy  Spirit  is  the  spirit  of  power 
in  the  Church,  he  is  nevertheless  the  spirit  of  peace, 
''the  peace  of  God."  Paul  uses  the  little  word  "let," 
as  though  it  might  in  some  way  be  restrained  or 
hindered  in  its  controlling  power.  It  certainly  is 
just  as  natural  for  this  divine  agent  to  distribute  his 
influence  through  the  affections  as  for  the  vine  to 
distribute  the  sap  through  its  branches,  and  this  will 
be  done  unless  the  union  between  the  two  is  weak- 
ened or  broken.  The  more  tender  and  sensitive 
the  spirit  of  fellowship  that  obtains  between  two 
parties,  the  easier  to  grieve  or  offend.  The  eagle 
is  haughty,  lordly,  and  dictatorial,  but  the  dove  is 
mild  and  gentle,  and  must  so  be  treated. 

What  a  safeguarding  of  the  life  and  conduct  we 
have  in  this  gentle  monitor  in  the  heart,  who  is 
always  seeking  to  influence  and  control  the  inward 
tendencies  and  the  outward  demeanor  in  harmony 
with  the  One  whose  life  we  profess.  When  per- 
plexities arise  in  the  heart,  when  conflicting  influ- 
ences pull  at  the  sensibilities,  and  when  questionable 
lines  of  conduct  arise  for  decision  and  adjustment, 
how  blessedly  helpful  this  divine  director  and  arbi- 
trator, in  such  a  time  of  need. 

Pauls  words,  ''Grieve  not  the  Holy  Spirit,"  shows 
how  sensitive  he  is,  and  how  we  ought  to  avoid 
giving  offense  to  such  a  guardian  and  protector  of 
our  life  in  Christ.  When  we  find  that  our  peace 
is  broken,  our  communion  interrupted,  there  should 
be  a  halt  in  the  way  we  are  going,  the  steps  re- 

319 


The  Exalted  Life 

traced,  lest  the  peril  become  fatal.  ''Watch  and 
pray,  lest  ye  enter  into  temptation." 

The  final  thought  to  be  considered  in  this  chap- 
ter is  the  indwelling  Word.  "Let  the  word  of  Christ 
dwell  in  you  richly  in  all  wisdom."  It  is  very  ap- 
parent that  the  association  between  the  Holy  Spirit 
and  the  Word  is  very  close  and  intimate.  It  can- 
not be  otherwise  when  we  remember  that  the  Word 
is  the  gift  of  the  Spirit.  Paul  makes  this  very 
clear  and  strong  in  his  letter  to  Timothy.  "All 
scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  is 
profitable  for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction, 
for  instruction  in  righteousness :  that  the  man  of 
God  may  be  perfect,  throughly  furnished  unto 
all  good  works."  (II.  Timothy  3:16,  17.)  Of 
Timothy  it  is  said,  that  from  a  child  he  had  known 
the  holy  Scriptures.  Jesus  says,  "Search  the  scrip- 
tures.... for  they  are  they  which  testify  of  me." 

How  important,  in  the  times  of  error  and  heresy, 
that  special  heed  be  given  to  this  divine  injunction. 
"Searcli  the  scriptures,"  is  the  word.  The  Bereans 
did  this  as  a  daily  liabit.  They  wanted  to  know 
the  truth,  and  so  they  searched  diligently.  Just 
as  the  Holy  Spirit  is  to  rule  in  the  heart,  so  the 
Word  of  God  is  to  dwell  in  the  heart.  It  is  not 
enough  to  simply  memorize  the  Scriptures,  to  get 
an  intellectual  grasp  of  them,  important  as  this  is. 
They  must  enter  into  the  heart,  the  affections,  the 
will,  and  occupy  and  control  them.  The  Bible  is 
preeminently  a  heart-book.  Its  deepest  reading 
and  understanding  is  there,  with  the  heart.  Any 
other  grasp  of  it  is  too  shallow,  too  superficial. 
It  must  be  hidden  in  the  heart,  in  order  to  trans- 

320 


The  Costume  and  Custom  Becoming  the  New  Man 

form  the  life  and  safeguard  it  against  sinning. 
David  said,  "Thy  word  have  I  hid  in  mine  heart, 
that  I  might  not  sin  against  thee." 

There  is  great  need  in  these  days  of  so  many  com- 
ments on  the  Scriptures,  so  many  lesson-helps  in 
the  Sabbath  schools,  of  guarding  the  place  that  the 
Bible  ought  to  have  in  study,  lest  it  be  forced  into  a 
second  place,  instead  of  holding  first  place  as  is 
its  right. 

In  some  respects  the  Word  of  God  has  a  poor 
chance  to  hold  its  place  in  this  day  of  "making  many 
books,"  and  the  multiplication  of  papers  and  maga- 
zines. The  parable  of  the  sower  is  illustrative  and 
illuminating  at  this  point.  What  the  seed  wanted 
was  a  chance.  In  this  it  got  only  one  in  every  four. 
The  cares  of  the  world  and  the  lust  of  other  things, 
entering  into  the  life,  choked  the  seed.  If  the 
Church  is  going  to  stand  against  the  commercialism 
of  these  days,  and  the  many  other  adverse  currents 
that  are  sweeping  onward  like  a  Niagara,  she  must 
he  built  on  a  foundation  as  solid  and  indestructible 
as  Christ  himself,  that  against  which  the  very  coun- 
cils of  hell  itself  cannot  prevail. 

Truth  must  be  kept  at  full  tide,  "richly."  In 
order  to  do  this  it  must  be  meditated  upon  day 
and  night,  then  the  life  will  be  "like  a  goodly  tree 
planted  by  the  rivers  of  water,  that  bringeth  forth 
its  fruit  in  due  season ;  whose  leaf  shall  not  wither." 

The  very  soul  and  life  of  this  Word  must  go  into 
the  heart  of  men  and  women,  and  become  the  blood 
and  meat  on  which  they  live  and  from  which  they 
grow.  Milk  v  i]l  do  for  a  period;  but  childhood 
must   be    exchanged    for   manhood,   and   only    the 

321 


The  Exalted  Life 

deeper  things  of  the  Word  of  God  can  bring  about 
this  change. 

The  individual  that  lets  this  Word  "dwell  in  him 
richly  in  all  wisdom,"  can  finally  say  as  one  did  of 
old,  "I  have  more  understanding  than  all  my  teach- 
ers,  for  thy  testimonies   are  my  meditation." 


322 


CHAPTER  XX. 

Sanctification  as  the  Antecedent  of  Holiness. 

Some  three  years  ago,  I  was  asked  by  a  student 
in  college,  in  a  public  congregation,  the  question: 
"What  are  we  supposed  to  understand  by  sancti- 
fication ?"  I  took  the  occasion  to  answer  the  ques- 
tion in  a  public  way,  and  as  that  answer  embraces 
quite  largely  what  I  want  to  say  on  the  subject 
in  the  closing  chapter  of  this  book,  I  draw  quite 
largely  from  it  for  the  benefit  of  persons  who  may 
be  personally  and  curiously  interested  in  the  answer. 

Possibly  no  one  item  in  the  Church's  creed  or 
dogma,  has  elicited  and  awakened  more  thought, 
without  provoking  open  discussion,  than  this  ques- 
tion of  sanctification.  I  take  it  that  the  doctrine  is 
so  universally  believed  as  a  Bible  doctrine  by  all 
denominations,  and  that  it  is  regarded  so  sacred 
and  vital  in  Christian  character  that  it  is  ap- 
proached much  as  Moses  was  commanded  to  ap- 
proach the  burning  bush,  in  the  spirit  of  the  most 
sacred  awe.  Shoes  put  off  because  ground  is  holy 
ground. 

This  doctrine  must  not  be  regarded  as  belonging 
to  any  single  individual,  or  any  certain  class  ot 
teachers  as  having  any  divine  right  to  propagate  and 
promulgate  it  aside  from  all  others,  and  therefore 
must  defend  u  as  a  [crsonal,  proprietary  claim. 
Differences  of  opinion  may  obtain  on  this,  as  on 
any  other  Bible  doctrine,  as  to  its  meaning  and  ap- 

323 


The  Exalted  Iiife 

plication  to  human  life,  which  may  not  and  need 
not  affect  it  as  fundamentally  related  to  the  Chris- 
tian's creed. 

Sanctification  is  a  vital  Bible  doctrine,  and  is  the 
inheritance  of  all  God's  people.  No  individual 
and  no  church  has  a  monopoly  on  the  grace,  or  a 
patent  on  how  to  get  it.  No  one,  and  no  organiza- 
tion can  get  a  "corner  on  it,"  and  thus  claim  to  be 
the  sole  dispensers  of  it  as  a  doctrine.  We  might 
as  well  attempt  to  organize  a  monopoly  for  con- 
trolling and  dispensing  the  air,  the  rain,  the  light, 
or  electricity.  These  are  freely  given  to  all  that  will 
rightly  relate  themselves  to  and  use  them.  So  the 
life  and  grace  of  Jesus  Christ  are  freely  given  to 
all,  each  individual  receiving  and  appropriating 
just  that  amount  which  his  enlightment,  capacity, 
and  faith  make  him  capable  of;  that  for  which  he 
has  an  intelligent  conviction. 

In  order  to  all  this  we  must  consider  that  for 
which  the  whole  scheme  of  salvation  stands,  that  for 
which  Jesus  died,  and  that  from  which  we  must 
seek  to  be  delivered ;  namely,  sin. 

As  the  question  of  sin  has  been  so  largely  and 
variously  dealt  with  in  previous  chapters,  as  an  act, 
as  a  ^tate,  and  as  a  natvu .  I  pass  to  the  S[»ecific 
consideration  of  sanctification  as  related  to  holiness. 

As  I  have  come  to  understand  the  words  "sancti- 
fication'' and  "holiness"  they  are  often  used  concord- 
antly,  having  a  similar  meaning.  Like  holy  and 
isoliress,  so  saint,  sanctify,  rnd  sanctificat'on,  aic 
largely  correspondent  in  meaning,  and  so  may  often 
be  transposed  in  their  use  without  any  violence 
as  to  the  meaning.    But  as  these  two  words  are  used 

324 


Sanctification  as  the  Antecedent  of  Holiness 

SO  often  in  the  Scriptures  in  a  relation,  or  in  a  con- 
nection with  persons  and  things  that  in  themselves 
are  so  very  different,  it  is  but  reasonable  to  make 
some  discrimination  between  the  strength  of  the 
words  as  often  applied.  Holiness  must  be  regarded, 
in  its  fuller  and  deeper  meaning  and  application, 
rather  as  a  state,  resulting  from  sanctification  as  an 
act,  in  which  act  both  human  and  divine  agencies 
meet. 

This  doctrine  of  sanctification  runs  through  the 
whole  Bible,  and  as  a  doctrine  and  a  life  is  like 
a  thread  of  gold,  only  enlarging  and  brightening 
as  we  trace  it  through  the  symbolical  and  ritualistic 
to  the  veritable  and  actual  in  the  teachings  of  Christ 
and  in  the  life  of  his  followers. 

In  order  to  the  greatest  possible  clearness,  I  want 
to  follow  this  gradation  upward,  keeping  the  special 
emphasis  on  this  one  word,  ''sanctification." 

No  individual,  no  living  church  can  divorce  this 
subject  from  an  accredited  creed,  or  be  indifferent 
to  its  teachings  and  its  practice  in  the  life.  It  be- 
gins as  early  as  in  the  second  chapter  of  Genesis, 
and  deepens  and  broadens  as  we  advance.  Instead 
of  lessening,  it  increases  until  like  Ezekiel's  stream, 
it  becomes  a  river  to  swim  in,  and  that  cannot  be 
crossed.  It  is  ever  carrying  toward  and  into  the 
life  revealed  in  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ,  who 
is  the  holy  one  of  God. 

It  will  be  noticeable  to  the  reader  that  the  word 
"holy"  does  not  occur  in  the  first  book  of  the  Bible, 
and  that  the  word  "sanctify"  occurs  only  once,  and 
that  in  relation  to  the  Sabbath,  which  was  to  be 
consecrated,   set  apart   from  all  other  days,   for  a 

325 


The  Exalted  Life 

certain  purpose  and  to  a  certain  use.  The  word 
"holy"  occurs  for  the  first  time  in  Exodus  3 :  5,  when 
Moses  stood  in  the  presence  of  the  flaming  bush, 
and  was  restrained  from  coming  near  to  it,  and 
was  commanded  to  put  his  shoes  from  ofif  his  feet 
because  the  ground  on  which  he  stood  was  holy 
ground.  Here  God  began  his  covenant  with  his  peo- 
ple, and  at  once  began  to  impress  them  with  the 
character  of  that  covenant.  This  ground  was 
sacred  because  of  its  relation  to  God,  and  so  could 
not  be  trodden  by  any  except  those  duly  prepared 
and  allowed  to  do  so  by  divine  permission. 

In  Exodus  12 :  16,  we  have  a  holy  convocation. 
This  meeting  was  divorced  from  all  secular  pur- 
poses, and  to  be  observed  wholly  unto  the  Lord. 
Then  in  Exodus  13:2,  all  the  first-born  were  to 
be  given  or  separated  unto  the  Lord.  In  Numbers 
3 :  12,  13,  the  Levites  were  to  be  taken  instead  of 
the  first-born,  and  were  to  be  the  Lord's.  In  Deu- 
teronomy 15 :  19,  the  firstlings  of  the  flocks  were  to 
be  sanctified  unto  Jehovah.  In  Exodus  19 :  6,  Israel 
was  to  be  unto  the  Lord  "a  kingdom  of  priests,  and 
a  holy  nation."  Exodus  19 :  23,  Mount  Sinai  was  to 
be  sanctified  unto  the  Lord,  and  thus  become  "a 
holy  mount."  The  tabernacle,  with  all  its  vessels, 
was  to  be  holy.  Then  there  was  to  be  the  "most 
holy,"  "the  holy  of  holies."  Very  significant  in 
this  connection  is  the  altar,  which  was  to  be  sancti- 
fied. For  this  purpose  seven  days  were  to  be  spent 
in  making  an  atonement  for  it,  after  which  it  was 
called  "an  altar  most  holy;  whatsoever  touched 
the  altar  shall  be  holy."  (Exodus  29:37.)  This 
altar  was  the  altar  of  separation.     Everything  put 

326 


Sanctification  as  the  Antecedent  of  Holiness 

Upon  it  henceforth  belonged  to  the  Lord,  and  so 
was  called  holy.  Aaron,  his  sons,  and  their  clothes 
were  holy.  (Exodus  29:21.)  House,  fields,  ani- 
mals, tithes,  etc.,  were  holy.  (Read  in  this  con- 
nection the  twenty-seventh  chapter  of  Leviticus.) 

In  Deuteronomy  7  \6,  we  have  a  most  compre- 
hensive statement  as  to  God's  ancient  people ;  he 
says,  "For  thou  art  an  holy  people  unto  the  Lord 
thy  God :  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  chosen  thee  to  be 
a  special  people  unto  himself.  Above  all  people  that 
are  upon  the  face  of  the  earth."  Now  all  this  con- 
secration, or  sanctification,  originated  in  God ;  but 
so  far  as  it  is  related  to  man,  it  involved  the  action 
of  the  human  will,  and  so  far  as  the  will  is  concerned 
in  it,  the  priests  and  the  people  were  required  to 
sanctify  themselves.  (Exodus  19 :  22 ;  Leviticus  11 : 
44;  27:  14.)  In  Leviticus  21 :  8,  God  declares  him- 
self holy,  and  for  this  reason  required  the  people 
to  sanctify  themselves. 

We  must  regard  the  sense  in  which  these  words 
apply  to  God  and  to  man  as  having  a  wide  differ- 
ence. God  was  seeking  to  establish  his  claim  to 
the  people  and  to  their  possessions,  and  by  this  bring 
them  into  fellowship  with  himself  and  thereby  put 
them  on  a  plane  of  living  that  "was  above  the  heath- 
en nations  that  were  around  them ;  making  them  a 
peculiar  people,  whose  God  was  the  Lord.  This 
devotion  to  God  could  not  be  otherwise  than  re- 
deeming in  its  effect  on  the  life  of  the  nation,  and 
thus  prepare  them  for  conserving  and  carrying  for- 
ward the  principles  that  were  to  prepare  the  way 
for  the  coming  of  God's  only  son.  Out  of  this 
prepared   people   came   the   patriarchs,    the    divine 

327 


The  Exalted  Life 

theocracy,  the  prophets,  the  only  true  religion  in 
the  world,  and  the  one  divine  character  that  was 
to  be  the  mother  of  our  Lord.  How  could  all 
this  have  obtained  but  for  this  people  who  were 
prepared  ? 

The  gradation,  according  to  the  divine  plan,  has 
ever  been  upward  from  the  beginning.  At  the  first 
God  set  one  day  in  the  midst  of  the  days  as  a 
hallowed,  a  sacred  day.  So  we  have  never  had 
a  Sabbath,  as  God  gave  it,  but  what  it  was  of 
this  character.  The  Jews  never  had  a  tabernacle,  a 
priest,  a  temple,  a  sacrifice,  an  altar,  a  utensil,  as 
God  ordered,  that  was  not,  by  reason  of  its  conse- 
cration, holy. 

As  we  continue  our  study  through  the  later  books 
of  the  Old  Testament,  we  will  find  the  tide  of  divine 
instruction  ever  on  the  increase,  and  the  tide  of  life 
rising  to  a  higher  and  a  broader  plane.  When 
Joshua,  the  successor  of  Moses,  and  the  greatest  mil- 
itary leader  of  his  day  and  age,  took  command  of 
Israel,  and  was  preparing  to  put  them  beyond  that 
mighty  river  of  separation,  the  river  Jordan,  he 
said  to  them,  ''Sanctify  yourselves :  for  to-morrow 
the  Lord  will  do  wonders  among  you."  (Joshua 
3:5.)  In  Joshua  24*  19,  he  says,  "He  is  an  holy 
God;  he  is  a  jealous  God,  he  will  not  forgive  your 
transgressions  nor  your  sins."  The  close  relation- 
ship between  him  and  his  people  was  such  that  he 
could  not  tolerate  or  endure  a  rival.  As  in  the 
New  Testament,  so  here.  "He  that  is  not  for  me 
is  against  me ;"  "ye  cannot  serve  God  and  mam- 
mon." God  would  have  his  people  stand  in  a  pe- 
culiar and  special  relation  to  him,  as  his  own,  and 

328 


Sanctification  ns  the  Antecedent  of  Holiness 

so  could  not  "gad  about,"  serving  this  god  and 
that  god  as  seemed  good  to  them. 

Here  we  have  a  symbolic  reflection  of  that  inward 
life  that  could  not  be  clearly  seen  until  the  appear- 
ance of  him  ''who  is  holy,  harmless,  undefiled, 
separate  from  sinners,  and  made  higher  than  the 
heavens."  (Hebrews  7:26.)  In  a  fuller  and  a 
more  realistic  sense  this  brighter  day,  whenever  it 
may  come  and  whatever  it  may  mean,  is  set  forth  in 
Zechariah  14:20,  21:  "In  that  day  shall  there 
be  upon  the  bells  of  the  horses,  holiness  unto  the 
lord;  and  the  pots  in  the  Lord's  house  shall  t)e  IfRe 
the  bowls  before  the  altar.  Yea,  every  pot  in  Jeru- 
salem and  in  Judah  shall  be  holiness  unto  the  Lord  of 
hosts ;  and  all  they  that  sacrifice  shall  come  and  take 
of  them,  and  seethe  therein :  and  in  that  day  there 
shall  be  no  more  the  Canaanite  in  the  house  of  the 
Lord  of  hosts." 

This  quotation  is  only  one,  a  sample,  of  the 
hundreds  of  times  the  word  is  used  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament to  indicate  the  close  relation  that  rational 
and  irrational  creatures  sustain  to  the  Lord.  When 
applied  to  God's  people  they  indicate  the  mutual 
relationship  that  exists,  that  they  should  be  dis- 
tinctively his,  and  that  in  a  special  manner  he  would 
belong  to  them,  was  their  God.  This  indicates 
the  character  of  Old  Testament  holiness,  being  more 
especially  objective  than  subjective.  When  life  and 
its  possessions  are  formally,  by  an  intelligent  action 
of  the  will,  surrendered  to  God,  for  his  occupancy 
and  use,  this  may  be  called  subjective  holiness.  It 
is  by  this  yielding  all  to  God,  separating  all  unto  him 

329 


The  Exalted  Life 

in  thought  and  in  deed,  that  he  is   sanctified  in 
the  heart  of  his  people. 

When  we  come  to  the  study  of  this  subject  in  the 
New  Testament,  the  symboHc  becomes  more  realistic, 
the  objective  becomes  more  the  subjective,  the  neg- 
ative more  the  positive,  the  outward  and  physical 
more  the  inward  and  spiritual,  of  the  heart.  Our 
conception  of  this  subject  increases  as  our  percep- 
tion of  God  and  the  greatness  of  his  claims  in- 
crease. To  his  ancient  people  he  spoke  his  claims 
in  the  voice  of  thunder:  but  now  in  tones  of  love 
from  Calvary's  cross,  and  in  the  whispers  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  Then  it  was  from  a  voice  without; 
now  it  is  from  a  life  and  influence  within,  in  the 
very  inmost  chamber  of  the  soul. 

How  in  contrast  the  character  of  offerings  put  on 
the  altar  of  atonement  by  the  people  under  the  law, 
and  the  one  God  provided  and  offered  up  in  the 
person  of  his  son!  The  offerings  at  their  best 
under  the  law  were  but  carnal;  "but  the  lamb  that 
God  provided  and  gave  as  an  offering  and  as  the 
price  of  the  world's  redemption  was  without  spot, 
or  blemish,  or  any  such  thing."  Before  his  incar- 
nation, he  was  announced  as  the  embodiment  of 
holiness.  (Luke  1 :  35.)  He  was  so  confessed 
by  both  demons  and  his  disciples.  Called  *'the 
Holy  One  of  God,"  and  "Son  of  the  living  God." 
(Mark  1:24;  John  6:69.)  He  declared  himself 
sanctified  by  the  Father,  and  that  for  the  sake  of 
his  disciples  he  sanctified  himself.  (John  10:36, 
and  17:19.) 

Here  the  Mosaic  ritual  was  perfectly  imperson- 
ated, not  only  in  standing,  but  in  actual  life.     He 

330 


Sanctlflcation  as  the  Antecedent  of  Holiness 

said  of  himself,  "My  meat  is  to  do  the  will  of  him 
that  sent  me,  and  to  finish  his  work."  (John  4 :  34.) 
"I  seek  not  mine  own  will,  but  the  will  of  the  Father 
which  hath  sent  me."  (See  verse  30,  and  chapter 
6:38;   17:4.) 

Perfection  did  not  find  its  realization  in  the 
ritual  of  the  Mosaic  covenant;  but  it  did  in  the 
spirit,  intelligence,  and  devotion  of  God's  only  son. 
His  body  was  an  holy  temple.  (John  2:21.)  His 
body  a  holy  sacrifice.  (Hebrews  10:  10,  14,  20.)  He 
himself  a  holy  priest.  (Hebrews  3:1;  10:19.) 
Is  it  any  wonder  that  he  was  called  the  ''Holy  One 
of  God"? 

John,  the  forerunner  of  Jesus,  stands  as  a  type  of 
holiness  under  the  law.  There  was  an  austerity  in 
his  manner  of  doing  and  living  that  was  greatly 
in  contrast  with  the  toiling,  social  intercourse,  hu- 
man hospitality,  and  plain  method  of  living,  that 
characterized  the  life  of  Jesus.  He  was  one  with 
the  people  in  their  sufferings  and  business  affairs. 
This  is  doubtless  the  reason  why  the  common  peo- 
ple heard  him  gladly.  While  this  is  true,  we 
must  note  that  through  all  his  intercourse  with  the 
people,  he  was  separate  from  sinners.  All  sin  and 
sinning  runs  counter  to  God's  will,  and  as  Jesus 
in  all  things  was  in  harmony  with  the  divine  char- 
acter, He  lived  in  absolute  separation  from  all  sin. 
It  could  not  be  otherwise,  as  he  was  God's  son,  and 
as  he  came  to  save  the  sinner  from  his  sins. 

We  now  come  to  the  great  practical  question,  the 
question  of  all  questions,  as  relating  to  the  fol- 
lowers of  Christ ;  namely,  sanctification  as  embodied 
in  the  New  Testament  and  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

331 


The  Exalted  Life 

which  is  designated  as  his  body,  his  temple,  and 
therefore  holy.  In  this  connection  it  is  noticeable 
that  all  the  members  of  that  body  are  called  saints, 
sanctified,  holy  persons.  This  stands  in  marked  con- 
trast with  II.  Chronicles  23 : 6,  *'But  let  none  come 
into  the  house  of  the  Lord,  save  the  priests,  and 
they  that  minister  of  the  Levites ;  they  shall  go  in 
for  they  are  holy" ;  but  in  beautiful  harmony  with 
the  prophecy  of  Daniel,  chapter  7 :  18,  22,  25,  27, 
which  the  reader  will  please  read.  These  Scriptures 
give  us  a  view  of  the  people  of  God  as  they  were 
then  seen,  and  as  they  should  be  in  future  time. 

It  seems  quite  evident  from  the  wide  use  of  the 
term  "saint"  in  the  New  Testament,  that  there  are 
different  degrees  of  meaning,  or  degrees  of  empha- 
sis to  be  put  upon  the  word,  the  force  of  which 
must  depend  on  its  cognate  meaning.  A  saint, 
therefore,  may  be  like  the  Corinthians,  "babes  in 
Christ,  and  yet  carnal."  (I.  Corinthians  3:1.) 
"Sanctified  in  Christ  Jesus,"  and  hence  called 
saints.  (I.  Corinthians  1:2.)  "Sanctified  in  Christ 
Jesus,"  and  yet  "babes  in  Christ,"  clearly  indicate 
a  state  of  immaturity,  and  also  what  they  were  re- 
quired to  be  in  practice  by  reason  of  this  divine 
relationship.  As  saints,  it  was  their  privilege  to 
live  a  life  very  different  from  the  one  that  was  ob- 
taining among  them.  Not  to  do  this  was  very  dis- 
honoring and  contrary  to  their  calling,  which  was 
holy,  and  utterly  unlike  the  One  that  gave  them 
this  standing  and  the  promised  grace  to  live  in 
harmony  with  it. 

To  bear  the  name  "saint,"  like  the  name  "Chris- 
tian," is  to  carry  a  title  that  no  one  by  right  can  con- 

332 


Sanctification  as  the  Antecedent  of  Holiness 

fer  but  Christ,  and  no  one  but  a  son  of  God  can  con- 
sistently profess.  From  the  New  Testament  point  of 
view,  sanctification  in  and  through  Christ  is  to  be  a 
personal,  spiritual  realization,  covering  the  whole 
ground  of  Church-life,  and  of  each  individual  mem- 
ber, with  all  related  things,  all  places,  all  possessions, 
and  all  periods  of  time.  "Ye  are  not  your  own ;  for 
ye  are  bought  with  a  price:  therefore  glorify  God 
in  your  body,  and  in  your  spirit,  which  are  God's." 
(I.  Corinthians  6:  19,  20.)  Ceremonial  sanctifica- 
tion under  the  old  covenant  related  more  especially 
to  certain  persons,  certain  things,  and  certain  per- 
iods of  time.  But  now  it  has  a  broader  and  deeper 
meaning,  and  is  set  as  a  standard  of  personal,  ac- 
tual, and  absolute  devotion  to  God.  This  is  clearly 
seen  in  the  following  Scriptures :  ''There  is  differ- 
ence also  between  a  wife  and  a  virgin.  The  un- 
married woman  careth  for  the  things  of  the  Lord, 
that  she  may  be  holy  both  in  body  and  in  spirit." 
(I.  Corinthians  7:34.)  In  Ephesians  1:4,  we  are 
chosen  "that  we  should  be  holy  and  without  blame 
before  him  in  love."  In  chapter  5 :  26,  27,  the 
Church  is  "sanctified,  that  he  might  present  it  to 
himself  a  glorious  Church,  not  having  spot,  or 
wrinkle,  or  any  such  thing;  but  that  it  should  be 
holy  and  without  blemish."  "And  you,  that  were 
sometime  alienated  and  enemies  in  your  mind  by 
wicked  works,  yet  now  hath  he  reconciled  in  the 
body  of  his  flesh  through  death,  to  present  you 
holy  and  unblameable  and  unreproveable  in  his 
sight."  (Colossians  1:21,  22.)  "The  very  God  of 
peace  sanctify  you  wholly."  (I.  Thessalonians  5: 
23.)     "Follow  after  holiness."      (Hebrew   12:14.) 

333 


The  Exalted  Life 

"But  as  he  which  hath  called  you  is  holy,  so  be  ye 
holy  in  all  manner  of  conversation."  (I.  Peter  1: 
15.) 

Now  couple  with  these  the  following  Scriptures: 
Romans  6:11,  19;  14:7;  11.  Corinthians  5:15;  3:23; 
6 :19.  In  all  these  passages  the  idea  is  clearly  revealed 
that  the  life  to  be  lived  is  complete  deliverance  from 
sin,  a  life  of  holiness,  and  all  the  powers  of  that  life 
are  to  be  devoted  to  the  working  out  of  the  divine 
will  and  purposes  in  the  advancement  of  Christ's 
kingdom  on  earth.  This  is  clearly  seen  in  Romans 
12:  1,  2.  This  is  the  yielded,  the  surrendered  life  to 
God,  as  seen  also  in  Romans  6:13.  There  can  be 
no  doubt  as  to  completeness  of  the  surrender  re- 
quired. It  is  the  whole  man,  body,  soul,  and  spirit, 
with  all  that  he  has,  and  for  all  time.  Before  pass- 
ing on  to  the  further  consideration  of  this  subject,  let 
us  take  a  condensed  view  of  the  field  already  cov- 
ered. We  have  seen  that  holiness  belongs  to  God, 
is  an  attribute  of  the  divine  nature;  that  it  was  re- 
vealed in  flesh  and  blood,  in  human  nature,  in  the 
person  of  Jesus  Christ ;  that  the  spirit  of  God,  being 
holy,  is  carrying  on  this  glorious  work  of  holiness 
in  the  hearts  and  lives  of  God's  people,  his  adopted 
children.  All  this  being  true,  then  the  Father  to 
whom  we  pray,  "Hallowed  be  thy  name,"  is  holy; 
the  Christ  that  we  follow  is  holy;  the  spirit  that 
quickens  and  guides  us  is  holy;  the  Bible  that  we 
study,  being  the  word  of  this  life,  is  holy;  the  tem- 
ple that  we  belong  to  and  are  a  part  of  is  holy ;  the 
way  over  and  through  which  we  go  is  holy,  called 
the  "highway  of  holiness,"  the  heaven  to  which  we 
are  going  is   holy,   called   the   "holy  city"   and  all 

334 


Sanctiiication  as  the  Antecedent  of  Holiness 

the  inhabitants  of  that  city  are  holy.  Now,  in 
the  light  of  all  this  can  there  be  any  question  as 
to  the  character  of  the  life  that  we  are  called  to  live? 
Let  us  answer  this  question  to  conscience  and  to 
our  God. 

So  far,  this  question  has  been  largely  considered 
in  its  relation  to  things  not  directly  related  to  sin, 
to  things  of  which  sin  cannot  be  affirmed,  the  tab- 
ernacle and  the  temple,  with  their  fixtures,  such  as 
the  altar,  the  gold,  and  the  sacrifices.  We  now  wish 
to  consider  it  as  more  directly  related  to  man,  the 
victim,  the  subject  and  agent  of  sin.  This  brings  us 
in  contact  with  the  mightiest  force  that  God  and 
man  ever  had  to  deal  with.  The  greatness  of  divine 
power,  the  infiniteness  of  divine  wisdom,  and  the 
incomprehensibleness  of  divine  love  are  here  re- 
vealed as  nowhere  else  in  the  divine  character  and 
activities.  After  the  fall  of  Adam,  all  the  agencies 
of  heaven  became  tributary  to  man's  recovery  from 
the  ruin  of  this  fall ;  all  creation  went  into  very 
birth  pangs  to  be  delivered  from  its  blighting  curse, 
to  be  ''delivered  from  the  bondage  of  corruption 
into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of  God!" 
(Romans  8:21,  22.) 

The  awfulness  of  sin  is  seen  in  the  cost  of  re- 
covery from  it.  So  it  is  not  a  trifling  thing  to  be 
a  sinner.  As  a  moral  force  it  is  opposed  to  both 
God  and  man,  and  is  the  only  thing  that  can  de- 
feat the  divine  purposes  and  thereby  work  man's 
final  ruin.  God  does  not  have  pleasure  in  the  death 
of  any ;  but  wills  that  all  men  everywhere  should 
be  saved.  Sin  tends  to  frustrate  this  purpose,  and 
therefore  must  be  overcome  by  a  deliverance  from 

335 


The  Exalted  Life 

it.  Deliverance  from  sin  is  an  absolute  necessity,  if 
God  is  to  be  glorified  in  life  here  and  heaven  ob- 
tained hereafter.  There  can  be  no  question  as  to 
its  imperativeness.  It  is  the  will  of  God  for  us. 
"For  this  is  the  will  of  God,  even  your  sanctifica- 
tion."  (I.  Thessalonians  4:3.)  In  chapter  5:23, 
Paul  prayed  for  its  realization  m  the  Church,  and 
in  Hebrews  12:  14,  it  is  made  the  absolute  condi- 
tion of  fellowship  with  God.  It  is  to  this  life  that 
we  are  called.  "For  God  hath  not  called  us  unto 
uncleanness,  but  unto  holiness."  (I.  Thessalonians 
4:7.)  To  despise  this  call  is  to  despise  him  that 
made  it. 

One  thing  at  this  point  should  be  well  considered 
by  all,  and  that  is,  that  we  shall  have  to  reckon  with 
these  scriptural  requirements  and  the  facts  involved 
in  them.  They  will  stand,  whatever  may  be  our 
changing  and  shifting  opinions  as  individuals. 
Change  these  facts — who  can?  We  may  avow  our 
disbelief  in  them ;  modify  and  change  them  to  suit 
our  creed  and  the  life  that  we  want  to  live,  but  they 
stand  unchanged.  Professors  may  be  false  to  their 
profession  of  this  life;  may  even  become  apostates 
from  God;  but  this  in  no  way  annuls  or  discredits 
the  teachings  of  the  Bible  on  this  subject.  "But 
what  if  some  did  not  believe?  Shall  their  unbelief 
make-the  faith  of  God  without  effect?  let  God  be 
true,  but  every  man  a  liar." 

Moral  purity  is  the  goal  set  for  the  individual 
Christian,  and  no  life  can  be  normally  what  God 
intended  it  to  be  without  it.  Without  this  purity, 
holiness  can  never  obtain. 

336 


Sanctification  as  the  Antecedent  of  Holiness 

This  brings  us  to  the  question  as  to  how  it  may 
be  obtained,  or  how  can  we  become  holy?  This 
question,  in  view  of  our  inborn  corruption, 
fed  and  strengthened  by  years  spent  in  the 
practice  of  sin,  is  very  momentous  indeed. 
Here  human  reason  and  human  philosophy 
are  utterly  helpless  to  answer.  The  whole  process 
is  on  a  plane  higher  than  human  reason.  *'Can  the 
Ethiopian  change  his  skin,  or  the  leopard  his  spots? 
Then  may  ye  also  do  good,  that  are  accustomed  to 
do  evil."  (Jeremiah  13:23.)  The  work  is  wholly 
supernatural,  and  so  divine  instruction  and  divine 
agencies  must  be  sought  and  obtained.  Here  we  en- 
counter human  theories  and  human  creeds  that  we 
are  more  or  less  liable  to  read  in  the  Bible,  and 
so  fix  a  mold  for  shaping  every  character,  a  stand- 
ard for  determining  every  experience,  and  a  certain 
Shibboleth  for  testing  every  profession  as  to  its 
genuineness.  And,  unless  these  are  fully  measured 
up  to,  there  is  often  a  presumptive  human  umpire 
on  hand  that  may  feel  called  upon  to  pronounce 
upon  the  genuineness  of  the  work,  and  the  character 
of  the  life  lived,  and  all  in  the  face  of  Paul's  words : 
"Who  art  thou  that  judgest  another  man's  servant? 
to  his  own  master  he  standeth  or  falleth.  Yea,  he 
shall  be  holden  up :  for  God  is  able  to  make  him 
stand."  (Romans  14:4.)  Now,  if  we  are  not  al- 
lowed to  judge  another  in  outward,  visible  things, 
in  ceremonial  observances,  how  much  less  in  matters 
pertaining  to  the  heart,  which  only  God  seeth. 
Whether  we  live  or  whether  we  die,  both  are  unto 
the  Lord;  we  are  his  in  either  case.  "We  shall  all 
stand  before  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ,  and  every 

337 


l:he  Exalted  Life 

one  of  us  shall  give  account  of  himself  to  God." 
(Romans  14:7,  8,  10,  12.) 

Paul  says,  touching  human  judgment  as  compared 
with  the  divine :  "But  it  is  a  very  small  thing  that  I 
should  be  judged  of  you,  or  of  man's  judgment: 
yea  I  judge  not  mine  own  self.  For  I  know  nothing 
by  myself ;  yet  am  I  not  hereby  justified :  but  he  that 
judgeth  me  is  the  Lord."  (I.  Corinthians  4:3,  4.) 
Here  Paul  attaches  but  little  importance  to  hu- 
man judgment,  or  to  a  human  tribunal,  even  to  his 
own  judgment.  Even  though  he  knew  nothing 
against  himself,  yet  this  did  not  prove  him  innocent. 
He  says  the  Lord  is  my  judge.  Therefore  do  not 
prejudge,  but  vv^ait  until  the  Lord  comes. 

How  important  it  is  that  we  give  heed  to  this 
personal  experience  and  counsel  of  Paul  touching 
individual  life  and  experience,  least  we  assume  the 
place  of  a  judge  in  matter  that  we  cannot  know, 
and  hence  cannot  render  a  safe  and  reliable  verdict. 
The  Lord  can  live  with,  and  excuse  things  in  per- 
sons that  we  frail  mortals  cannot  tolerate  at  all. 
Even  the  apostles  would  have  commanded  fire  from 
heaven  to  consume  those  that  were  adjudged  as  ene- 
mies. But  Jesus  told  them  that  they  did  not  know 
the  spirit  that  they  were  of ;  the  spirit  of  the  dispen- 
sation in  which  they  were  now  living. 

Now,  as  to  how  we  reach  this  state  of  grace. 
There  are  certain  goals,  or  sub-goals,  on  the  way  to 
the  final  goal  that,  for  the  largest  possible  perspicu- 
ity, must  be  considered.  All  these  are  more  or  less 
closely  related,  the  one  to  the  other,  so  that  they 
form  an  integral  part  of  a  completed  whole.  On 
this  ascending  pathway  from  the  lowland  of  moral 

338 


Sanctification  as  the  Antecedent  of  Holiness 

life,  the  plane  of  common,  unrenewed  humanity, 
we  have  justification,  regeneration,  sanctification, 
and  holiness ;  each  preceding  the  other  in  the  order 
named,  and  each  forming  an  essential  part  of,  and 
merging  into  what  follows.  While  each  may  be 
regarded  in  a  sense  as  a  crisis  in  human  experience, 
yet  they  are  so  closely  related  to  each  other  and 
form  so  vital  a  part  of  the  completed  work  of 
restoration  from  sin,  that  they  cannot  be  so  segre- 
gated as  to  be  utterly  independent,  one  of  the  other. 
To  do  this  would  be  to  break  the  atonement,  which 
covers  all  sin,  and  the  oneness  of  Christ's  life, 
which  is  given  in  its  fullness  to  the  believer,  into 
mere  remnants  of  what  is  an  indivisible  whole. 

While  there  are  degrees  in  the  obtainment  and  at- 
tainment of  this  life  in  Christ,  upon  the  part  of  the 
believer,  yet  it  is  a  part  of  one  grand  whole  which, 
in  moral  character,  is  always  the  same.  Is  the 
repentant  sinner  justified?  That  is  his  standing  in 
Christ  before  the  law.  Is  he  regenerated  or  born 
again  ?  This  is  Christ  coming  into  him,  as  his  new, 
beginning  life.  Is  he  sanctified?  This  is  Christ 
taking  charge  of  his  life  and  separating  it  from  all 
worldly,  sinful  practices.  For  this  he  sanctified 
himself,  and  for  this  God  made  him  the  sanctifica- 
tion of  his  people ;  but  this  must  be  done  by  a  full 
surrender.  (Romans  12:  1,  2.)  Finally,  is  he  made 
holy?  This  is  done  by  a  complete  identification  of 
the  sin-tendency  in  man,  with  Christ  on  the  cross. 
Here  Christ  becomes  all  and  in  all.  Justified  in 
Christ,  life  in  Christ,  sanctified  in  Christ,  holy  in 
Christ.  All  self  gone  and  he  the  only  living  and 
reigning  one.     *T  am  crucified  with  Christ;  never- 

339 


The  Exalted  Life 

theless  I  live;  yet  not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me." 
(Galatians  2:  20.)  What  kind  of  a  life  is  this?  A 
holy  life.  It  cannot  be  anything  else  but  holy  and 
be  Christ's  life.  But  we  must  make  a  discrim- 
ination between  the  indwelling  Christ  and  that,  or 
the  one  in  which  he  dwells.  When  one  is  regener- 
ated, granted  a  new  beginning,  born  again,  born  from 
above,  he  thereby  becomes  a  son  of  God,  and  in  this 
sense  is  a  partaker  of  the  divine  nature,  which  is 
holy.  It  was  for  this  purpose  that  exceeding  great 
and  precious  promises  were  given,  ''that  by  these 
we  might  be  partakers  of  the  divine  nature."  (II. 
Peter  1:4.) 

Whoever  has  the  indwelling  Christ  has  holiness, 
for  he  is  holy.  But  this  may  obtain  when  that 
within  which  he  dwells  is  not  yet  wholly  conformed 
to  his  nature  and  life.  When  Jesus  was  begotten 
in  this  world  at  the  first  it  was  among  enemies, 
and  for  his  safety  his  parents  had  to  flee  with  him 
into  Egypt.  So  when  he  is  begotten  by  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  the  heart  of  the  penitent  believer,  he  is 
begotten  among  moral  and  spiritual  enemies.  Then 
the  war  begins.  It  takes  time  to  transform  the  whole 
nature  of  man  into  the  likeness  and  fullness  of  this 
new,  divine  life.  He  comes  in  for  that  purpose, 
to  make  a  new  creature  in  Christ  Jesus. 

Man  has  a  trinity  of  life,  body,  soul,  and  spirit,  all 
of  which  Christ  seeks  to  bring  under  his  control 
and  make  subservient  to  his  will  and  his  work. 
Many  things  obtain  in  the  body,  as  habits,  that  may 
not  be  changed  in  a  day,  or  a  year,  or  even  in  a 
whole  lifetime.  Then  still  more  fixed  are  the  evil 
principles  that  inhere  in  the  soul,  the  seat  of  the 

340 


Sanctification  as  the  Antecedent  of  Holiness 

affections,  desires,  emotions,  and  will,  and  that 
exercise  such  a  determining  influence  on  the  life 
and  its  activities  that  it  may  take  years  of  study, 
prayer,  and  consecration  to  overcome  and  utterly 
displace  them,  so  that  the  soul  may  be  blameless  and 
harmless  in  the  sight  of  God.  Then  higher  than  all 
is  the  spirit,  the  immortal,  the  indestructible  part 
of  man,  that  which  more  especially  allies  him  to 
God  and  eternal  things,  and  is  to  be  in  fellowship 
with  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  to  which  and  with  which 
the  Holy  Spirit  bears  witness  of  sonship.  (Romans 
8:16.) 

Now  all  this  intricate,  interacting,  interlocking, 
corelated  life  is  to  be  brough  into  complete  moral 
and  spiritual  harmony  with  God,  and  thus  be  "pre- 
served blameless  unto  the  coming  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ."  This  is  what  Christ  comes  into  the  human 
spirit  to  do,  and  which  he  will  do  if  he  has  the  full 
co-operation  of  the  human  will.  It  is  on  this  line 
that  we  can  account  for  the  graded  life  of  the  indi- 
vidual, and  consequently  that  of  the  Church.  The 
human  will,  through  intelligence  and  by  divine 
grace,  must  decide  which  division  or  section  of  this 
tripartite  life  shall  have  first  place  in  the  affections, 
and  be  in  ascendant  rule.  H  the  physical  nature  is 
predominant,  and  its  desires  and  appetites  gratified, 
then  the  life  can  be  very  low.  It  can  consist  largely 
in  eating  and  drinking,  sports  and  plays,  cards  and 
dances,  and  revelings  in  many  ways.  This  kind 
of  a  life  is  on  the  lowest  grade.  On  this  plane  there 
are  gradations,  running  from  the  life  of  the  degen- 
erate to  the  life  of  the  respectable  and  popular, 
questionable  only  in  some  things.     In  this  last  list 

341 


The  Exalted  Iiife 

many  Christians  may  be  enrolled.  Carnal  propen- 
sities, in  many  things,  have  control. 

Again,  if  the  higher  conceptions  of  life  obtain, 
and  the  intellectual  and  ethical  are  given  full  sway, 
then  the  banquet  will  be  spread  on  this  line,  and 
everything  that  will  contribute  to  the  joy  of  thought 
and  feeling  will  be  supreme.  Here  fiction,  litera- 
ture, science,  art,  and  philosophy,  have  their  univer- 
sities, temples,  and  coliseums.  Here  mighty  brains 
revel  in  fields  set  with  jewels  and  lighted  with  suns 
and  stars.    All  this  on  the  intellectual  plane. 

The  highest  of  all  is  the  realm  of  the  spirit. 
This  is  where  God  dwells  supreme,  and  where  he 
can  speak  in  eternal  silence.  Here  he  says,  "Be 
still,  and  know  that  I  am  God."  It  was  in  a  still 
small  voice  that  Elijah  heard  him  speak.  It  is  in 
the  stillness  that  power  reigns.  Here  the  Holy 
Spirit  dwells,  and  in  the  silence  of  thought  carries 
forward  his  work  of  unifying,  purifying,  and  re- 
newing until  the  whole  life  is  restored  to  a  com- 
pleted temple  in  the  Lord. 

This  is  the  spiritual  life  in  its  supremacy.  It  is 
the  life  that  is  the  outflow  of  Christ's  life,  with  no 
obstructions  from  within.  No  adverse  will,  God 
now  does  the  willing ;  no  cherished  sin  homed  in  the 
heart,  for  the  heart  is  created  anew ;  no  yielding 
of  the  members  as  ''instruments  of  unrighteousness 
unto  sin,"  for  they  have  been  presented  to  God  as 
"a  living  sacrifice,  holy  and  acceptable." 

I  want  to  emphasize  the  thought  so  constantly 
and  persistently  held  to  in  this  chapter  that  this 
life  is  a  holy  life  because  a  sanctified  life.  Jesus 
was   sanctified  by  the   Father;  then  he  sanctified 

342 


Sanctiiication  as  the  Antecedent  of  Holiness 

himself,  as  he  says,  for  the  purpose  that  his  disciple 
might  be  sanctified.  Jesus  was  kept  dead  to  every- 
thing but  his  Father's  will  by  the  divine  nature  that 
dwelt  in  him.  His  humanity  was  offered  up  on  the 
altar  of  divinity,  and  so  was  always  kept  in  har- 
mony with  that  will,  doing  always  the  things  that 
pleased  the  one  that  sent  him.  This  the  secret  of 
the  believer,  death  to  sin,  the  presence  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  keeping  him  in  spiritual  contact  with  Christ, 
who  is  the  death  of  sin.  Many  hold  and  teach,  and 
honestly  so,  that  the  carnal  nature,  our  inheritance 
from  Adam,  is  put  away  by  cleansing,  meaning  by 
sanctification.  The  writer  so  held  in  his  earlier  min- 
istry; but  on  a  more  thorough  investigation  has 
come  to  accept  what  seems  the  more  reasonable  and 
scriptural  view ;  namely,  that  w^hat  is  meant  by 
the  "old  man,"  "the  carnal  nature,"  and  "indwelling 
sin,"  is  put  away  by  what  Paul  calls  "death,"  which 
term  occurs  some  sixteen  times  in  the  sixth  chapter 
of  Romans.  Here  Paul  associates  death  directly 
with  sin  and  the  old  man,  saying  "that  our  old  man 
is  crucified,"  and  "he  that  is  dead  is  freed  from 
sin."  (Romans  6:6,  7.)  Not  only  the  old  man 
himself,  our  corrupt  human  nature,  is  put  to  death, 
but  also  his  ways,  his  doings  are  put  away.  Paul 
says,  "That  ye  put  off  the  former  conversation 
the  old  man,  which  is  corrupt  according  to  the  de- 
ceitful lusts;  and  be  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  your 
mind ;  and  that  ye  put  on  the  new  man,  which  after 
God  is  created  in  righteousness  and  true  holiness." 
( Ephesians  4 :  22-24. )  Now,  can  anything  be 
stronger  and  plainer  than  this?     Here  we  put  off 

343 


The  Exalted  Life 

both  the  old  man  and  his  ways,  as  we  described  so 
elaborately  in  the  preceding  chapter. 

I  think  the  reader  will  find  it  difficult  to  prove 
that  this  old  man  is  cleansed  away,  sanctified  away, 
as  so  often  stated  by  writers  and  preachers  on  this 
subject.  Try  it  and  see.  It  is  not  difficult  to  prove 
his  death,  and  that  this  was  accomplished  on  the 
cross  when  Jesus  "tasted  death  lor  every  man." 
This  is  the  way  that  Paul  professed  that  it  was 
done  in  his  case,  and  the  way  he  taught  that  it  was 
done.  Let  me  ask,  if  we  put  away  the  theory  as  to 
how  it  is  done,  what  is  the  difference  as  to  the  re- 
sult, if  to  get  rid  of  the  ''sin  principle,"  as  it  is 
called,  as  the  one  essential  thing  in  order  to  holi- 
ness? If  I  may  be  allowed  an  item  of  personal  ex- 
perience, I  'Would  say  that  Romans  6:11  was  the 
crisis  of  triumph  in  my  ov/n  case.  I  was  told  by 
the  Word  and  the  Spirit  what  to  do  and  I  did  it. 
The  thought  of  cleansing  at  this  point  never  came 
to  me.  It  was  freedom  by  death  that  I  wanted  and 
I  got  it.  I  read  in  the  sixth  verse  of  this  chapter 
what  v/as  done  with  that  old  man,  and  the  purpose 
for  which  it  was  done,  and  then  told  in  the  eleventh 
verse  what  I  must  do  in  order  to  avail  myself  of 
what  Christ  had  done  for  me  long  ago.  To  me  this 
is  the  plainest,  the  simplest,  and  the  most  scriptural 
view  of  this  subject.  I  simply  took  what  Christ  did 
for  me,  and  thus  made  it  real  in  my  experience. 

Christ  was  the  altar  on  which  I  offered  myself  up 
to  God,  and  that  altar  did  its  work  and  made  me 
acceptable  to  God  by  separating  me  from  my  sin. 
Is  this   not  scriptural?       Did   I   not  do   right  in 

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Sanctification  as  the  Antecedent  of  Holiness 

obeying  it?  Did  I  not  honor  Christ  and  his  death 
by  so  doing? 

Is  not  this  in  the  truest  sense  sanctification?  It 
is  the  sanctification  that  was  incarnated  in  God^s 
only  son,  and  is  of  a  twofold  character,  separation 
from  all  sin,  and  separation  wholly  unto  God.  The 
human  nature  of  Christ  was  fully  taken  up  into 
his  divine  nature  and  he  was  thus  kept  wholly  dead 
unto  sin  and  constantly  alive  unto  God.  He  lived 
the  crucified  life.  His  death  on  the  material  cross 
on  Calvary  was  the  open  and  outward  sign  or  mani- 
festation of  his  inward,  spiritual  crucifixion,  which 
was  constant  and  perfect  through  all  his  earthly  life. 
He  carried  the  cross  in  him,  and  by  this  he  was 
enabled  to  live  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  divine 
will.  The  human  was  completely  lost  in  the  divine, 
so  perfect  was  the  union  between  the  two,  the  Fath- 
er and  son. 

If  deliverance  from  the  "old  man"  is  by 
death,  crucifixion,  which  seems  clearly  the  teachings 
of  the  New  Testament  on  this  subject,  then  where 
and  how  does  sanctification  occur  ?  Paul  makes  this 
plain  when  he  says  that  our  old  man  was  crucified 
that  the  ''body  of  sin  might  be  destroyed,  that 
henceforth  we  might  not  serve  sin."  The  body  is 
sin's  instrument,  its  stronghold,  and  if  we  would  be 
free  from  its  control,  its  power,  must  be  broken. 
For  this  reason  and  for  this  purpose  it  must  be 
"yielded,"  be  "presented  a  living  sacrifice  unto  God." 
Then  transformation  begins  at  once  by  the  renew- 
ing of  the  mind.  The  trend  of  thinking  changes 
from  the  earthly  to  the  heavenly,  where  the  mind  is 
now  set  and  centered.     Earthly-mindedness  gives 

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The  Exalted  Life 

place  to  heavenly-mindedness.  The  walk  is  now  no 
more  after  the  flesh,  but  after  the  spirit. 

As  sanctification  finds  its  lowest,  ouiward  expres- 
sion in  the  act  of  consecration,  of  a  personal  yield- 
ing of  all  to  God,  there  is  still  a  deeper  and  more 
spiritual  meaning  that  it  has  that  must  not  be  over- 
looked. As  soon  as  self  has  really  died  through 
crucifixion  with  Christ,  then  the  work  of  renewing 
commences  in  the  soul  and  the  body  of  the  believer. 
Until  this,  the  thinking  has  been  largely  wrong 
and  by  this  the  character  has  been  stained  and  the 
whole  soul  tainted  with  the  morally  evil.  As  sanc- 
tification finds  its  first  expression  in  the  material- 
istic and  the  non-ethical,  it  now  ascends  through  the 
ritualistic  and  the  moral  up  to  the  spiritual,  having 
holiness  as  its  final  goal.  It  is  both  outward  and 
inward,  physical  and  spiritual ;  ending  in  a  qualita- 
tive and  completed  life  in  Christ.  It  has  its  sub- 
goals,  infancy,  childhood,  and  matured  manhood. 
In  I.  Corinthians  3:1,  it  is  ''babes  in  Christ";  in 
Ephesians  5 :  14,  it  is  "children,  tossed  to  and  fro," 
and  in  the  thirteenth  verse  of  this  same  chapter  it 
is  "unto  a  perfect  man,  unto  the  measure  of  the  stat- 
ure of  the  fulness  of  Christ." 

The  cleansing  which  sanctification  works  relates 
more  especially  to  the  use  that  is  made  of  the  will, 
the  afi^eciions,  the  emotions,  the  passions,  and  all 
mental  activities,  separating  them  from  all  evil 
tendencies  and  associations,  and  making  them  meet 
for  the  Master's  use.  Paul  in  writing  to  Timothy 
expresses  this  in  a  very  forcible  way.  Speaking  of 
ceremonial  cleansing,  and  then  applying  it  to  the 
household  of   faith  he  says,   "If  a  man  therefore 

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Sanctiiication  as  the  Antecedent  of  Holiness 

purge  himself  from  these,  he  shall  be  a  vessel  unto 
honor,  sanctified  and  meet  for  the  Master's  use, 
and  prepared  unto  every  good  work."  (II.  Timothy 
2:21.) 

This  preparation  for  work  is  more  especially  in 
the  sphere  of  sanctification,  and  hence  a  large  use 
is  made  of  the  altar  both  in  the  old  and  the  new 
dispensation.  The  literal  altar  vanishes  in  the  New 
Testament  but  a  more  sacred,  more  elevated,  more 
transforming,  more  purifying,  and  more  life-giving 
altar  is  made  use  of,  the  Lord  Jesus  himself.  Jesus 
said  it  is  *'the  altar  that  sanctifieth  the  gift."  (Mat- 
thew 23:  19.)  It  imparts  its  character  to  the  wor- 
shiper. Paul  says,  ''They  which  wait  at  the  altar 
are  partakers  with  the  altar."  (I.  Corinthians  9:  13.) 
In  Hebrews  13 :  10-13,  we  have  a  guarded  altar, 
which  only  they  that  go  forth  with  Jesus  to  the 
place  of  death  are  made  the  rightful  partakers. 

To  the  Christian,  Jesus  stands  in  the  double  re- 
lation of  death  and  life,  the  cross  and  the  altar. 
They  both  meet  in  him.  We  die  with  him  and  we 
live  with  him.  Paul  says,  "For  if  we  have  been 
planted  together  in  the  likeness  of  his  death,  we 
shall  be  also  in  the  likeness  of  his  resurrection." 
"Our  old  man  is  crucified  with  him,  that  the  body 
of  sin  might  be  destroyed,  that  henceforth  we  should 
not  serve  sin.  For  he  that  is  dead  is  freed  from 
sin."  (Romans  6:  5,  6,  7.)  Here  the  whole  domain 
of  sin  is  covered  by  the  death  of  Christ.  There  is 
no  sin  that  is  not  atoned  for,  and  all  that  we  might 
be  delivered  from  its  dominion. 

Now,  what  must  we  do?  Put  ourselves  where 
we  are  put  in  Christ  Jesus ;  make  this  good  in  our 

347 


The  Exalted  Life 

experience  that  he  has  made  available  for  us  by 
his'  death;  make  actual  in  our  life  what  he  has 
made  possible  by  the  cross  and  the  altar.  If  we 
cannot  do  this,  then  what  shall  we  do  with  I.  Peter 
1:  15,  16?  **As  he  which  hath  called  you  is  holy, 
so  be  ye  holy  in  all  manner  of  conversation.  Be 
ye  holy ;  for  I  am  holy." 

Here  the  will  plays  a  supreme  part.  For  sin,  as 
an  act,  is  preeminently  an  act  of  the  will,  and  so 
determines  the  moral  quality,  when  enlightened  of 
the  act.  It  also  determines  the  degree  of  availabil- 
ity of  the  provisional  means  for  man's  deliverance 
form  sin.  *'Ye  will  not  come  unto  me  that  ye  might 
have  life."  *'He  that  cometh  to  me  I  will  in  no  wise 
cast  out."  "As  many  as  received  him,  to  them  gave 
he  power  to  become  the  sons  of  God."  To  know 
the  right  and  then  refuse  to  do  it  is  sin.  Lust  can- 
not conceive  until  it  has  influenced  choice. 

Sin  is  often  in  the  intention,  not  always  in  the 
act.  It  may  never  go  beyond  the  thought  and  the 
desire  of  the  heart.  Sin  is  not  impersonal.  It  at- 
taches itself  to  some  intelligent  being  and  becomes 
a  part  of  him,  and  he  is  dealt  with  as  sin.  Individ- 
ual enlightenment  determines  sin's  turpitude,  so 
that  a  given  act  in  one  individual  may  be  very 
different  from  that  same  act  in  another.  Jesus  said, 
"If  ye  were  blind,  ye  had  no  sin."  He  that  knew 
his  Master's  will,  and  did  it  not  shall  be  beaten 
with  many  stripes." 

In  I.  John  1 :  8,  9,  10,  we  have  sin  in  its  twofold 
form,  as  a  unit,  and  as  a  multiple.  "If  we  say  we 
have  no  sin  we  deceive  ourselves,  and  the  truth 
is  not  in  us.     If  we  confess  our  sins,  he  is  faithful 

348 


Sanctification  as  the  Antecedent  of  Holiness 

and  just  to  forgive,  and  to  cleanse  us  from  all  un- 
righteousness." Here  we  have  sin  in  the  nature, 
and  sin  in  the  life.  But  no  difference  in  how  many 
forms  sin  exists,  nor  to  what  extent  it  has  multi- 
plied in  the  life,  Christ  is  able  to  save  to  the  utter- 
most, all  that  come  unto  God  by  him."  "The  blood 
of  Jesus  Christ  his  son  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin." 

The  three  fundamental  things  to  be  emphasized 
on  the  line  of  a  completed  salvation  are :  Separation 
from  sin,  separation  unto  God,  separation  in  Christ. 
These  constitute  the  foundation  on  which  to  build 
this  wonderful  life.     The  agents  to  be  used : 

I.  The  truth,  the  Word  of  God.  (1)  Able  to 
save  the  soul.  (James  1 :  21.)  (2)  Makes  perfect. 
(II.  Timothy  3:  16,  17.)  (3)  Makes  wise  unto  sal- 
vation. (II.  Timothy  3:15.)  (4)  Begets  faith. 
"Faith  cometh  by  hearing;  hearing  by  the  word  of 
God."  (5)  It  is  spirit  and  life.  So  Jesus  said, 
"My  words,  they  are  spirit  and  they  are  Hfe."  (6) 
Gives  freedom.  "The  truth  shall  make  you  free." 
(7)  Makes  clean.  "Now  ye  are  clean  through  the 
word  which  I  have  spoken  unto  you."  (8)  Keeps 
from  sinning.  "Thy  word  have  I  hid  in  my  heart 
that  I  might  not  sin  against  thee." 

II.  The  Blood.  "Jesus  also,  that  he  might  sanc- 
tify the  people  with  his  own  blood,  suffered  without 
the  gate."  (Hebrews  13:12.)  "The  blood  of 
Jesus  Christ  his  son  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin."  (I. 
John  1:7.) 

III.  The  Holy  Spirit.  "Being  sanctified  by  the 
Holy  Ghost."     (Romans  15:  16.) 

So  sanctification  is  the  work  of  three  divine  per- 
sons, God,  himself,  being  the  source  of  power  and 

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The  Exalted  Life 

the  fountain  head  from  which  the  heaHng  streams 
issue.  "It  is  God  that  worketh  in  you  both  to 
will  and  to  do  of  his  good  pleasure."  "If  the  son 
shall  make  you  free,  ye  shall  be  free  indeed."  In 
Romans  1 :  3,  the  Holy  Spirit  is  called  "the  Spirit 
of  holiness."  The  Scriptures  give  us,  as  above, 
(Christ  being  the  Word)  the  trinity  of  workers  in 
the  deliverance  of  man  from  sin.  There  are  other 
agents,  but  these  are  primary,  and  must  be  relied  on 
to  do  the  wok. 

After  all  that  has  been  written  it  may  be  asked, 
"How  are  we  to  reach  this  state  of  grace?" 

1.  Make  a  definite,  full,  and  complete  surrender 
of  body,  soul,  and  spirit  to  God  as  a  living  sac- 
rifice, as  directed  in  Romans  12:1. 

2.  Break  forever  in  your  plans  and  purposes 
with  all  sin.  No  one  that  is  still  willing  to  commit 
sin  can  make  this  surrender,  and  so  can  never  reach 
this  state.  He  that  committeth  sin  is  classed  with 
the  devil,  "is  of  the  devil."  "He  that  is  born  of 
God  doth  not  commit  sin,"  is  not  living  in  the  prac- 
tice of  sin.  Here  we  have  the  two  childhoods  man- 
ifested, one  of  the  devil,  the  other  sons  of  God. 

3.  Give  Christ  full  credit  for  what  he  has  done 
in  his  crucifixion,  his  death  and  his  resurrection. 
Put  yourself  where  God  in  Christ  has  put  you, 
dead  to  sin  and  alive  to  God.  "Reckon  (count)  ye 
also  yourselves  to  be  dead  indeed  unto  sin,  but 
alive  unto  God  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord." 
(Romans  6:11.)  This  is  giving  Jesus  full  credit 
for  what  he  has  done,  which  is  to  glorify  him. 

What  is  it  to  be  dead  to  sin  in  the  sense  of 
this  text?     It  is  not  deliverance   from  temptation, 

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Sanctification  as  the  Antecedent  of  Holiness 

or  from  the  sensations  of  earthly  desires,  but  un- 
responsiveness to  whatever  is  evil  and  sinful  in 
them.  It  is  only  when  desire  has  influenced  action 
on  the  line  of  evil  that  sin  is  conceived.  Jesus  did 
not  respond  to  Satan's  evil  suggestions.  When  the 
hand  does  not  respond  to  the  will  it  is  dead  to  the 
will.  So  of  the  eye  to  light,  the  ear  to  sound,  and 
the  will  to  sin.  Reader,  will  you  live  such  a  life? 
It  means  much  to  do  it.    What  will  it  mean  not  to  ? 


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The  exalted  life. 


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1    1012  00044  8177 


